


Collide (It's A Beautiful Disaster)

by BeaDeM0



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Antagonism, F/M, Rio likes mirrors, Unprotected Sex, Violence at the end of chapter 3 too, dean is now spa-man, reluctant partnership, they are trying to communicate a bit more but it's mostly through their bodies, violence and clean up in chapter 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:28:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23927626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeaDeM0/pseuds/BeaDeM0
Summary: This is my 'fix it' but kinda realistic fantasy version of what happens towards the end of S3 (g'bye hit man nonsense etc!).Beth & Rio are still antagonistic but have come to a kind of truce. They are, of course, still in denial about what they are to each other (it's so complicated as they are) & they don't really talk. They go to a hotel for business in chapter one, so I guess I wrote the hotel scene I actually wanted. & then other chapters happened, with other scenarios... I intended for this to be shorter, but I wrote what I wrote...I hope you enjoy the journey.
Relationships: Beth Boland/Rio
Comments: 70
Kudos: 396





	1. Queen & Slim

He’d taken her, reluctantly, to the hotel to attend not just the meeting with the bosses and the other state city heads, but the dinner and drinks after it. She had become his business partner once again, or business associate as he’d snidely said, elbowing her way up to this status after the hot tub shop buyout that was working well to legitimise their cash and to transport the re-instated pharmaceuticals business around the state and beyond. But the big change to their partnership, the relaxing of the boundaries, the not quite trust but a total truce of trying to do away with each other was made by Beth striking up a deal that Rio didn’t think was possible, one that had impressed his bosses so much so that they told him to bring her. 

She had done a favour for Rio, one of many to stay in his good graces after the whole ‘I tried to get you killed again and this time by a hitman fiasco’ because of course, his other associates knew of the hitman and informed him. She hadn't gone ahead with it in the end but he was less than amused with her. So she’d done him lots of work favours and told him everything she was doing business wise at all times because he wanted to know about every aspect of that part of her life. His excuse was that the FBI were sniffing around but Beth knew it was the power thing. He liked controlling aspects of her world. Or all of her world. She didn't like it but the more he trusted her, the freer she became.

But her overload of information made him change his tactics. Maybe because he was also done with being exasperated by her, maybe because he preferred them to snap in their banter then for her to be forever afraid of him, that he gave in and gave her some of her furniture back. She then worked on him to reclaim more of her belongings, room by room. 

One of the jobs she'd offered to do was pick up a ‘sample’ for him from an old and potential re-supplier across the border. Though she was only supposed to be the courier, she had, unbeknownst to her, spoken to the supplier directly, a softly spoken affable man. They struck up a conversation about baking, as he’d had a perfect eight plait loaf of bread on the seat of his Volkswagen car and Beth, curious, had asked him about it. They’d chatted about baking for a few minutes, a ridiculous thing to do in the circumstance but Beth was Beth, she used the skills she had. 

When the man asked Beth if she was the one who had previously ran the car dealership she had swallowed not wanting to reply, but after a few moments of silence, she had nodded. But that left her feeling exposed, reminded of how Rio had always protected himself and how she never had, she had always been too vulnerable. How she was still vulnerable. She was still exposing herself.

She drove home, handed the samples to Mick who came by her place to pick them up that evening when Dean was out doing Dean things, and the kids were in bed and she tried to forget the exchange with the supplier, compartmentalising it, just like she did everything else. Mick spotted the blow up bed in the study and Deans mess of belongings sprawled around it, and he raised an eye brow but said nothing and left.

Dean had been sleeping on the blow up bed in their office since the second job Beth had done for Rio and Rio had returned all the kids things. Dean knew that Beth was working with Rio but hadn’t quite made it to the point of understanding who actually owned the ‘Spas'. However, the return of the furniture was hard to ignore. It was obvious that Beth was working closely with Rio again, and as Beth had stopped pandering to Dean as much as she had been doing for months, Dean had lost it with her one night when she came home late. 

He’d yelled at her, asking what kind of favour had Beth done for Rio? Had she been sleeping with him again? Had she been giving him head at ‘Boland’s Bubbles’? Or had she been wearing the new underwear she had bought, as yes, he knew about it, had she been wearing it for Rio? Dean demanded Beth quit Rio, right then and there and she laughed and asked him how.

Asked him how they were going to pay the three mortgages that Dean had taken out? Or how would she earn her way out of being indebted to Rio, reminding Dean that the reason she had started being indebted to Rio was because she was trying to clear up Dean’s financial messes. Or how could they buy Rio out of the hot tub showroom when Rio owned it? Dean had been furious at Beth for verbalising what he was pretending to not know. 

He’d stormed out of the kitchen in a huff, dragging the blow up bed piled high with his clothes and toiletries from their bedroom to the office angrily as a punishment, making her suffer by making her sleep on the bedroom floor. But Beth found that she genuinely didn’t care. It wasn’t a punishment for her to sleep apart from Dean, quite frankly, Beth was glad to have the room back to herself. To stop forcing herself to pretend to be what she wasn't, feel things she didn’t. To pretend things were okay with Dean when they weren’t. 

It was easy for her to play at the good wife role, to stay in the security blanket of their marriage to stay safe within its familiarity. But it was now so tiring.

She needed Dean to be a father and look after their kids and she had needed to lean on him after she thought she’d killed Rio. And so okay, maybe she had also used him as a warm body for comfort and maybe she had tried to experiment with Dean, make him replace what she had lost with Rio, but now, well, no. Rio was back. A constant reminder of what lust really was to her, the physical embodiment of sexual fulfilment. God she wanted him. She hated him. But the man still made her horny and the worse thing was knowing that he knew how to satisfy her when all that was now so very done. The other thing that was done was her and Dean. There was nothing there anymore. And she couldn’t compartmentalise that.

Beth had been surprised to have a visit from Rio the morning after Mick had picked up the samples. Rio knocked at her front door, walked in as she stuttered over her words. He noted the blow-up bed in the office surrounded by Deans paraphernalia but he made no comment, ignored her mentioning that she still didn’t have anywhere to sit in the kitchen. Instead he walked to her bedroom and she followed spluttering as he saw the blankets on the floor, her pj’s folded on them. He then turned back to her, said the samples had checked out and the supplier had liked her. He told her she was heading with him to the meeting they’d arranged that afternoon and had instructed Beth not speak. 

Beth had been irritated by the lack of notice and when the meeting went a way Rio obviously didn’t like and Beth had tried to speak, he shut her down. The supplier watched their dynamic with curiosity. He had thought Beth had been one of Rio’s partners, so had been happy she’d been sent to collect his supplies. He made it clear he didn’t appreciate Rio not letting Beth speak and ended the meeting swiftly. 

As Rio drove them away, Beth couldn’t help but snark that listening to her or letting her run with an idea would have saved the situation but the remark had been too raw and too soon for Rio. The lucrative deal not taking place was a dent to his ego and business plan so he’d dismissed her, like Dean would have.

It made Beth so angry that she didn’t speak to him for the rest of the journey, the silence between them tense and thick and she as left his car, being dropped off at the back of the Paper Porcupine to work overnight, as she was still making the fake cash whilst working their part-time and she slammed Rio's car door with all her might just as he started to say something to her. She stomped off away from the jeep haughtily and he’d sped off, equally as angry. Once inside the back room of the Paper Porcupine, she acted impulsively, and called the supplier up, struck up a far bigger deal using her ideas for concealing goods. 

Rio had been both angry at the news and very pleased, pissed off and impressed with her, and mostly very happy to take 70% of the deal. Beth had baulked at that but he explained it, 30% for him, 30% for the bosses, 10% for bribing who needed bribing which left 30% for Beth. Rio didn’t bullshit. It was the fairest deal. Beth had to accept it.

But the deal meant the bosses wanted to meet her, this silent on and off and somewhat chaotic partner of Rio’s and he hadn’t exactly been pleased about it. But he’d strong armed her and the girls, killed Lucy, pushed Beth into making decisions that were uncomfortable for her and had threatened her over and over again since his return. And yet still, she stood up to him, disagreed and argued and made things work her way. She had finally levelled up and she now owned her mistakes. 

She had earned a place beside him, though they both knew he would never tell her that. 

He did however send her her small couch back and a box of her blankets. She used the cushions from it to sleep on at night, fashioning a makeshift mattress in her bedroom.

The night of the big meeting, Rio picked her up in his outrageously expensive car. They’d had an argument the day before about how Beth had dealt with a situation with a new courier for them on her own, a situation that had probably required back up and the air between them was yet again palpably taught. He was still clearly annoyed at her when she shut the car door, he didn’t acknowledge her greeting so she rolled her eyes and carefully fastened the seatbelt around her dress. 

But as they drove, Beth noticed that his eyes occasionally flicked over to her, sweeping over her face and body, though to measure it out when she turned to look at him, catching his eye, he dropped in snarky comments about her being careless and told her she ought to watch her mouth and stupidity in-front of the bosses as he wasn’t going to cover her ass. She was in the big leagues now, if she messed up she was on her own and she wouldn’t be making it home.

Beth did her best to bite back the replies on the tip of her tongue, she was already apprehensive enough about the meeting, about being so tied in, being held so accountable and she didn't need another full blown argument with Rio to add to her stress. It would be her first introduction to his two bosses. Her bosses now too, she guessed. 

Rio had provided her with as little information as possible about the event itself but had told her to dress like she was going to the smartest restaurant in town for dinner. And so she had dressed accordingly, a form fitting midi dress in black, with an interesting neckline that both revealed and concealed her assets and as she knew Rio's tit preference she had chose something she knew would make him look twice. Her heels were black and mid height, she wore simple gold jewellery, kept her hair neat, did a cat eye, rosy blush, a red lip and a form fitting black blazer. She looked good and she knew it but then, she also felt a little overwhelmed by just how different and how respectable Rio looked in his suit. 

Rio always looked good, always, the little shit, whether in his button ups, or his denim jacket or that peacoat she secretly loved, but dressed up in a perfectly tailored black suit that fitted him like a dream paired with a white shirt, the light crisp cleanness of it so unusual on the usually casual hipster attired Rio that she knew, well, Beth was feeling things she generally tried to ignore, suppress and yes, compartmentalise. But it was hard to do that when surround by his scent in his car and when she felt not just her own tightly coiled desire for him but his interest in her, as well as the sparks of anger for her that still occasionally came off him in waves. 

Beth let him have his few outbursts of hate filled diatribes, because she understood that he could direct his rage at her forever more, she nearly killed him after all. She tried to get someone else to kill him. She had accepted what she'd done. Didn't pretend she was a good person anymore. She accepted both their parts in that horrendous night, they were both so similar. Not that she’d actually really talked to him about it. It remained a thing between them, it both tied them together and kept them far apart.

Before their new deal, when she would be exhausted after working all night making cash, she’d drive home and recall their partnership, and she would try to imagine what it would be to not work with him ever again, to imagine him gone, not threatening her, to imagine how great it would be to be the only boss again. And she would think, it would be great! But she would also have to recall Gil screwing her over, threatening her, recall that situations would come up and how would she now get all the dollar bills and all the distribution channels set again. 

It always came back to her thinking, but what would Rio do? She had convinced herself she hated him, convinced herself getting rid of him was for the best, but in reality it wasn’t that simple. Love and hate were cut from the same cloth. 

She and Rio always danced around each other with intense feelings that they never actually verbalised. Like now. He pulled up to the front of the hotel and got out of the car, walking around to her side to open the door for her but she’d already clambered down and out. 

So Rio handed his keys to the valet and then opened the hotel door for Beth, letting her walk in front of him before stepping beside her, and he remained by her side, just as she stayed by his. Without agreeing to it, they both knew they would stay together, that they would sit together, partners presenting a united front they didn't often feel in their daily relations. 

He’d walked her into the meeting, greetings and introductions were made, Beth repeated the names of the eight other associates and two bosses in her head over and over. She stayed by Rio’s side, felt his hand at her back, felt his eyes on her face, felt him by her side, felt him being there for her. 

They took their seats at the table, together. He poured her water, she passed him tea. He spoke, was questioned by one of the bosses and she backed him up, praising a decision he’d made. He dismissed a comment about her prior behaviour proving she was a liability. She had proven herself over and over he’d said. 

When she’d been pressed to talk over her idea and decision making process for the deal she’d brokered, why she’d pushed for it, she’d faltered at first, began to use her hands to express herself, and under the table Rio put his hand on her leg, squeezing, reminding her to be still. Reminding her to be calm, to take her time, to be present. She could feel the cool energy radiating off him, feel him reassuring her that she had this. 

She took a deep inhale and started again, putting her hands down on the table in-front of her, keeping them still as she felt Rio’s hand on her leg reassuring her throughout, feeling his gaze steady on her. When her section had ended and she’d answered the single follow up question asked of her concisely, the bosses nodded approvingly and then moved the meeting onto the next matter.

Beth took a breath and dared to turn her head to look at Rio, whose eyes were on her, shining, looking at her in the way that made her breath pause and her heart skip a beat. Her lips parted slightly and his eyes slipped down to look at them for a split second, before moving back to lock on her eyes again as he quickly licked his own lips. He turned his head then though, focusing on the room again but he kept his hand on her leg. Keeping her nerves steady.

The meeting eventually ended and there was a twenty minute break before the dinner started. Everyone walked out of the boardroom in small groups and a shorter man with tattoos on his knuckles, who had sat on Beth’s right hand side and who Beth had guessed was a decade younger than her, surprised her by asking her if she’d like a drink at the bar. 

Rio merely raised an eyebrow at the guy and then gave Beth a loaded look, before he turned from them and walked down a corridor, away from everyone. Beth smiled at the knuckle tattoo man, excusing herself, telling him she'd see him at the bar and she turned, following where Rio had walked, ready for whatever little lecture he was probably about to give her. 

But once she rounded the corner of the corridor, she came to an abrupt halt. The corridor ended with two doors adjacent to one another, one door was ajar and one of the doors was shut. Restrooms. 

Beth swallowed. She looked heavenwards, before taking a breath and moving towards the closed door, she paused for a minute outside it, before reaching to press the handle down. She stepped in as quietly as she could, closing the door behind her silently and locking it, before turning to him. He was stood by a wide marble countertop encasing the basin, facing a large ornate mirror. She walked to his side slowly, her heels making tapping noises that echoed on the marble floor, stopping only when she stood beside him, staring at his eyes in the mirror as he stared at hers, both of their faces impassive.

He waited a moment as they stared at each other before he moved his hands from his side to his belt, undoing it slowly, not taking his eyes from hers, before popping the hook fastener on his pants and pulling the zipper down and then he moved his hands back to his side. Beth took a breath and opened her mouth slightly before stepping closer to Rio, looking away from him as she moved her hands to where the hand lotion was, pushing the pump down then loosely rubbing the lotion over her skin to lubricate her hands. She looked back up, looking into his eyes before dropping one hand to touch the marble in front of her. 

She slid her hand till it was in front of Rio. She paused for a moment, waiting for his slight head nod, his go-ahead to do what she was about to do and her hand moved up to his crotch, to his undone zipper, hovering for just a moment before reaching through the zipper to caress the semi-hard on encased in his black boxer briefs.

Rio let out a deep exhale when she touched him, her small hand smoothing up and down his length over his shorts. Feeling him again made her breath stutter, made her think of the afternoon in her bedroom, when they had taken time exploring each other bodies intent on giving each other much more pleasure as they came down from their first orgasms, their first round of sex on her bed. It felt like so long ago now. 

Beth squeezed as best as she could, which wasn’t brilliantly in the position she was in but she felt him stiffening, getting bigger and Rio moved his hands to pull his pants down a little, to get the zipper teeth out of the way before he let her pull his growing and hardening cock out of the gap in his shorts. 

He looked at her, his own mouth slightly agape as she worked him with just one freshly lubricated hand, caressing him from root to tip, squeezing his firm, warm, thick length as best as she could as he stared hotly at her. Her hand moved faster until frustrated, she stopped momentarily, re-positioning herself partially behind him, so she could move her arm around him, still able to see him in the mirror, but now able to use both hands to tease his thick cock. 

He took the opportunity to move his own hands, gripping onto the marble countertop, out of her way as she used one hand to work on the root of his cock and the other on his tip, slowing occasionally to thumb the vein on this underside before picking up the pace again, gathering his pre-cum to lubricate her hands further, keeping steady pressure and pace as he groaned as softly as he could, watching her watch him come undone in the mirror.

He didn’t warn her when he was about to cum, he just let it happen, spilling partially into her palm and partially onto the marble, his hips stuttering a little, his orgasm groan louder than all the others that had slipped from his lips. Beth licked her lips as she watched him, her eyes bright. They were both quiet and still for a moment, she held his length firm in her hands, feeling elated at having gotten him off, feeling turned on at the voyeurism of watching herself get him off, and still feeling powerful after their meeting.

She waited a little longer as Rio came down, as he tried to regulate his breathing, and then she gently let him go, moving her arm from around him so she was stood beside him again. He went to move, a side-step to give her a little more space but he stopped when Beth raised the palm containing his spilled cum to her lips, looking at him purposefully as she licked it, slowly. She lapped all of his spilled seed up with the tip of his tongue, pulling her tongue back into her mouth when she’d licked her hand clean and closing her lips to taste him. Rio swallowed as he watched her, his eyes wide, his pupils blown. 

Beth smiled devilishly then, reaching forward to turn the faucet on, pulling at a wash cloth that fancy bathrooms always left on the side for people to use as hand towels and she ran it and her hands under the warm water, cleaning her hand up before dampening the cloth in the warm water, wringing it out and turning back to him. She took his softening length back into her hand to gently wipe him off with the cloth, before slipping him back in the gap in his shorts. She rinsed the cloth out again before wiping up his cum that had spilled on the countertop, feeling his eyes on her on the whole time. She rinsed the cloth out one last time, taking a little time to wash her hands with some soap, before she used another cloth to dry her hands and then she stepped away from him, depositing both the cloths in the discreet wash basket as she moved to unlock the door. 

“I’ll get you a bourbon.” She said before opening and closing the door, not looking back at him. 

She walked to the bar, smiling at the man with the hand tattoos and ordered a drink for her and Rio, chatting to the man, Alf, amiably. He liked her business acumen, she liked his plain talk to the bosses and they relaxed in each other company until Rio joined her side, calm and collected once again. Within a minute of his return they were all called in to dinner. There were name cards on the long dining table and Beth found herself sitting diagonally opposite Rio, and in-between two other men who hadn’t said much in the meeting. 

Rio was sat next to one of the two other women in the meeting, an attractive and well groomed lady, Issa, who kept on leaning into him and he smiled at her throughout the meal. Beth tried to ignore the tightness in her stomach as she looked at the woman reacting to Rio and Rio's smiles and laughter for her. 

She had to remind herself what had just happened, what she had just done but it still niggled her. How Rio was so easy with other women, especially attractive ones who looked nothing like her, but then Alf, who was sat on Rio’s other side made a comment and the trio all laughed together and Beth took a breath. He was just like that with others, easier. It was a different act. The ease was calculated. She refocused herself to be in the moment, to talk to the men by her side. To not just look at Rio. To not just think of Rio. 

The meal started with a couple of oysters for them each and Beth tried not to look at Rio as he shucked one of his down, his eyes on hers purposefully as he swallowed it whole, his throat bobbing. He licked his lips briefly, still looking at her and she had to look down at her plate. She ate the small but delicious shrimp in some sort of foliage nest which had been given to them all next, noticing Rio ate it languidly and then the main came, a herb and breadcrumb encased fresh sea cod with potatoes dauphinoise and greens. One of her companions told her one of the bosses was a pescatarian and she'd smiled, understanding the menu choices a little more. But as she ate her cod, she continuously felt Rio’s eyes on her, watching her mouth, as she lifted each forkful to her lips before chewing and swallowing her food. 

When she looked at him, he just looked back at her with his warm, dark eyes and she knew he was thinking of her licking him off her palm. She declined the desert, taking an espresso, watching him take a fresh mint tea, watching him eat a few spoons of his chocolate ganache desert, watching him listen to his dining companions, engage with them whilst continuing to catch her eye. 

When one of the bosses stood up at the end of the meal, announcing cognac’s would be had in the small snug bar that led off the dining room, Mido, on Beth’s left had offered Beth his arm, to escort her but Beth had drank enough. She had two small glasses of wine with the dinner, but noticed Rio had barely sipped his wine, choosing to drink the water instead. She’d looked across at Rio before moving to take Mido’s arm and Rio gave a slight shake of his head, flicking his eyes to the main door that led to the restrooms. 

Beth figured he might want to go already, and she made her excuses to Mido before walking out through the main doors, taking a few steps on her own, and waiting for Rio.

He followed her out, looking her up and down in the way that only he did, before walking by her, towards the meeting room from earlier. Beth rolled her eyes but let herself follow him into the room, stepping into it’s now dimmed light, turning around when she heard Rio lock the door with the old school key that had been left in the keyhole. She looked at him, opening her mouth slightly to speak as he looked at her, slipping his suit jacket off, letting it fall to the floor. 

They both knew what this was, what they both wanted. He moved towards her, just a step. His eyes were on her lips. 

She took a step towards him and he walked closer to her, until he was pressing against her, walking her back until her butt hit the edge of the board room table, in-between two chairs. She tried to move her lips up to kiss him but he held his head back from her, his hands finding her neck, thumbs pressing on her chin, gently holding her head in place, looking deep in her eyes before he slightly jerked his head back, in the direction of where the others were now drinking cognac.

She understood his meaning, if they started kissing, they wouldn’t stop and it would be obvious, everyone would know. Everyone would see it, his beard would redden her face, his lips would be swollen and darker because of hers on them. So she kissed the side of his hands instead and his pupils expanded, before he let her neck go, hoisting her up a little, so her butt was perched on the edge of the table. He looked deep into her eyes again, to see if she wanted this.

Beth didn’t hesitate, she nodded before pulling the tight skirt of her dress up around her thighs, up to her hips, exposing her electric blue lace panties, which she then tried to shimmy down her hips but Rio took over from her, pulling them down her legs as he stepped in-between them, leaning down to kiss her neck, down her clavicle, licking at the skin of her rounded breasts exposed in the dress, before he moved his hands to them, sighing as he held them, squeezed and caressed them. Beth swallowed at his touch and moved her hands to him, stroking over the growing bulge in his pants. It didn’t take long for her to loosen his belt, undo the hooks and lower the zipper before he pushed his suit pants down his thighs, taking his boxer briefs with it. 

His cock, ready for her again, bounced once free and Beth reached to touch him, give him a couple of strokes as she appreciated feeling the weight and heat of him, appreciated feeling him hard for her. He was still hard for her, despite all they’d put each other through, but he stopped her ministrations by pressing closer to her, letting his fingers move from her chest to lower down, quickly feeling between her legs. Feeling if she was wet enough for him. 

She moaned at the lightness of his touch, his finger tips circling, rubbing at her entrance, feeling how wet she was for him already, how turned on she was because of him, for him. He slipped a finger inside her briefly and she gasped when he pulled it out, moving his hand away to push his cock there instead, looking deep into her eyes, waiting. Beth took a breath and leant forward suddenly, pressing her lips on his, licking into his mouth before stopping the kiss, moving back slightly, widening her legs for him.

His eyes flashed at her and then he was pressing inside her. She clasped onto his shoulders, tightly, having cried out at his entry, wet but not fully prepared. He moaned into her neck, pressing further into her, slowly, pulling back a little before steadily pushing back in, further in, as she opened up for him, clinging on, gasping with each gentle but firm thrust that he repeated over and over, until his hipbones were pressed against her thighs and she was gasping, clinging onto him. So turned on, so hot, so wet, so relieved to be doing this with him again, so frustrated to be doing this with him here with time and space limitations and all their clothes on but it was all so full of heat, so... she was feeling everything.

And then he started to fuck her in earnest, his hard, thick length thrusting in and out, rubbing over and over against all the sensitive places inside her and she was shocked that she could feel her orgasm, the orgasm that came from that place deep inside her cunt building up at the friction that they were creating. Beth couldn’t help but move her hips against his, squeeze his cock inside her and he made a noise somewhere deep inside his throat as his pace picked up again, feeling the warmth of her pussy, knowing she was near despite the few times they’d done this before. 

He then moved both his hands to her hips, holding her in place as he angled himself against her and Beth felt that tightly wound cord inside coming undone, she felt herself letting go as he purposefully hit that spot over and over that was making her writhe until she came on him, gasping, her short nails digging into his shoulders through his shirt. She held on tight as her orgasm spasms rocked though her, hitting him buried deep inside her, and his hip jerks went a little erratic, faster until he groaned, pushing deeper into, pumping a few more times before going still. 

They remained wrapped around each other for another minute, breathing, coming down, until Rio leaned back a bit, looking into her eyes, moving his hand to push the hair away from her face before moving down to kiss her lips warmly, his tongue easing into her welcoming mouth wetly. They kissed for a little while until he pulled back, looking at her before he pulled out of her slowly, making them both groan a little. He tucked himself back into his underwear, pulling his suit pants up before leaning down to grab her panties, hooking them under her feet and sliding them back up her legs. 

She stood up off the table, grimacing a little, letting him slide the lace over her hips, pat her ass cheeks before he pulled the skirt of her dress back down. 

He looked at her, concerned at her grimace. “You okay?”

“Yeah, fine, just you know, a little, stretched.” She smiled sheepishly at him which made him grin naughtily at her as he finished dressing himself. 

“Do we have to go back in there?” She gestured with her hands, hoping he’d say no as she was feeling rather fucked out and a bit sensitive.

He bit his lip as he looked at her up and down, considering. “We should, to say thanks before leaving, but I guess I can say it for you.”

Beth swallowed. “No, I’ll, I’m fine. I just, I should use the restroom before heading back in.”

Rio smiled devilishly at that. “So you don’t want me slipping down your thighs as you saying your goodbyes?”

Beth gave Rio a filthy look which made him laugh as he approached the door, picking up his jacket and putting it on. He turned back to her to check she was okay before he unlocked and opened the door, putting his hand gently on her lower back and leading her to the restrooms, using one himself. He was waiting for her when she left the restroom and smiled at her when she stood in front of him, a little shyly. She had reapplied lipstick, spritzed a little perfume on her dress and liberally applied their expensive scented hand lotion to try and mask the scent of their sex seeping out of her. Her eyes were still wide, her pupils still slightly dilated and so she was grateful that when she followed Rio into the snug room, that it was dark, that everyone was on their second or third drink, that no one paid attention to the fact they’d been gone for what had turned out to be half an hour. 

Only Issa looked at Beth’s face, her noise twitching and her eyes narrowing, observing Rio’s hand, repeatedly brushing against the small of Beth’s back when he felt the goodbye had lasted long enough but also, because he wanted to touch her. Beth smiled at Issa, knowing the woman had guessed and she didn’t feel bad about it. 

Rio drove her back to her place in almost silence, they were both a little tired after the meeting and fucking, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable or loaded like it usually was. It felt relaxed.

When Rio pulled up outside of her house he turned to her, as she turned to him and they just stared at one another for a moment, saying nothing. Beth wasn’t about to mention what they’d done, feeling maybe for Rio it was a heat of the moment thing, both of them feeling so in their power, so together in their shared power, which was a clear potent aphrodisiac for them both. 

When Rio didn't say anything, Beth nodded at him, and turned opening the car door, climbing out as she clutched her clutch purse under her arm.

“Elizabeth.”

“Yes?” She paused, ready to close the car door, feeling bone tired now, the tension and apprehension over the meeting from the last few days suddenly hitting her, not to mention the slight dull but good ache that nestled in-between her thighs. She wanted a hot shower and to lie on her couch cushion bed.

Rio’s face was impassive. “You know that can’t happen again.”

Beth looked at him, biting her lip. She knew she should feel insulted, perhaps even used, but the fact was she knew him a little better now. Knew that it was easier for him to reject her, tell her this before she told him because hadn't she done that in the past? And besides all that, Dean still lived with her and Rio, as the hitman’s due diligence had informed her, Rio still lived the life of a bachelor.

So Beth tilted her head and spoke softly at him. “What part can’t happen again? The part where I bossed up in the meeting with you by my side, or the part where I made you cum hard with just my hand or the part where you made me cum hard on your cock, just by using your cock?”

Rio’s mouth fell slightly open, not used to her speaking so frankly to him.

Beth didn’t wait for a retort. “Goodnight, Rio.”

She closed the jeep door, firmly, and walked away from it, following the path to her house, not looking back at the car as she unlocked her front door and stepped inside, closing it and leaning on it. Taking a breath as she momentarily shut her eyes. 

She’d managed to impress the bosses, she’d made allies after the meeting and had finally been properly fucked and experienced an intense orgasm. Beth opened her eyes and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water, not acknowledging Dean starring at her from his office bedroom, instead she went straight to her room, shutting and locking the door, wanting only silence so she could think everything over. Think over all the details. All that had been said.

But mostly, for now, all she wanted to think of was how Rio had pressed into her, and held her, and looked at her and how he couldn’t help but touch her hair and kiss her after they had both orgasmed. She spent so long hating how he could work her out, hating how he'd scared her for weeks on end, hating how a look he gave could still make her undone inside. But she had forgotten that in all of that, she loved what he spurned in her, she loved how he inspired her ideas, that he listened to her, encouraged her and yes, she loved how he could make her come so very deeply. Their relationship was a beautiful disaster.


	2. Fade into You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth is held at knifepoint*, Rio turns up. They don't talk much but work together. Rio takes Beth home to his place. Trust grows. Rio likes mirrors in this fiction. Spa-man makes a brief appearance. Not sure if spa-man is an upgrade from car-man. 
> 
> *trigger warning, there is some violence in this chapter.
> 
> \------
> 
> I've waited to post this, the writing hadn't flowed so easily, so it might not be so fluid to read.

‘Why did you send the courier here?!!!’

She’d typed the message to Rio hastily in frustration as the man paced across the showroom floor towards her. It was late of course, she was working on the books, as she did two or three nights a week at the spa showroom after the strained family meal and putting the kids to bed. She did that on top of her three late shifts at the ‘Paper Porcupine’ and she worked through two of the nights there making the fake cash with Ruby and Annie. She then did most of the school runs in the morning, so she was perpetually tired. But she was also on top of it.

What she was not on top of was Rio throwing her curve balls like sending the courier from weeks back here on a night that nothing was supposed to be happening. Especially when he had specifically told her over and over again to never meet anyone other than him or Mick alone. She frowned, slipping her phone into her back pocket as the man reached her.

She had thought Rio and her were getting beyond all the pulling the rug out from under each others feet now, seeing as since the meeting with the bosses four weeks back they’d been getting carnal pretty much once a week. 

A few days after that meeting, they’d been arguing at something (well, everything) as he was driving to drop her off home after a catching up with a supplier and she’d somehow, needing to shut him up and stop his sniping, she’d somehow ended up giving him head in his G-Wagon. The drivers seat moved back far enough for her to get into the footwell though it was tight squeeze and he’d come fast. He had laughed at himself, telling her that she was making him do teenage moves again as she tucked his softening cock back in his boxer briefs, pulling at his jeans to do them up but he stopped her, his hands moving around her sides, pulling her up to him as he pressed the seat back so that it started to move down. 

Beth had felt her cheeks pink when she realised his aim, she was not going to sit on his face in his car whilst parked in her street and she scrambled out of his grasp, opening the drivers door, stumbling ungracefully out, refusing to let him return the favour. He’d looked at her like she was crazy and she’d hissed they were parked directly outside of her house and then pointed to her purse so he would hand it across to her. 

He was amused but handed her purse over, wishing her goodnight, watching her walk into her house, waiting a minute or two before he closed his car door and drove off. Beth knew this as she watched him from behind her lounge window curtain. Dean’s light was out, so he wouldn’t have seen anything and was more than likely dead to the world as he slept through anything, but still, when she’d gone to her room she locked the door. She headed into the bathroom, put the shower on and used her vibrator, thinking of riding Rio’s face. Because in truth, she hadn’t actually ridden anyones face and the thought of doing that to Rio and of Rio wanting her to do it to him, well, she used up all the charge in her vibrator.

Two nights later Rio had turned up at ‘Boland Bubbles’ under the guise of checking the books but instead he’d gotten into her space, touched her face, tucking her hair back and it was fast from there. He’d pushed her back to the desk, putting his long elegant fingers to good use as he made sure she came before he fucked her into a second full on body shaking orgasm as she lay sprawled, bottom half naked, on the desk under him. 

So Beth learnt ‘that can’t happen again’ had actually meant having sex during the only feasible and non-traceable opportunity they had when they would be alone together. Rio had stopped by every week, on that night. They both knew what it was, and also that Tuesdays were Mick’s night off. 

Beth had wondered if Rio had a secret kink, that he just liked fucking against meeting room tables and desks, and if it made it kinkier for him because the desk he was fucking her on was Dean’s. Although in reality, it was her desk, she was the one who ran the show. The first time he’d turned up on the Tuesday, Rio had even uttered “I told you that you look so much better on top of the desk” after a particularly deep thrust that had her mewling into his ear as she clung onto his neck and shoulders. They’d attempted the office chairs this week, mixing it up but the arm rests made it hard for her to ride him and Rio had gotten frustrated with the position not working out. He had lifted her up (he was lean but so strong) and fucked her against the wall instead, his hands digging into her thighs, holding her up. 

She’d come so hard against him, and she knew that his orgasm had been just as intense too. He held her up in place for some time after they’d finished, and had, for the first time since the meeting, leant in to her to kiss her softly and deeply, and they’d stayed kissing as his cock eventually slipped out of her and their combined come dripped from her cunt, down her thighs. She was definitely thinking of their first time together and she guessed he was too, but neither of them spoke about it. They were just a little more tender with each other that time. 

Usually they pulled their pants back on, locked up and shuffled out of the showroom, looking at each other pointedly before getting into their own respective cars and driving off. But they still weren’t anywhere near tender in their normal interactions with each other. 

Of course she still mostly hated him, the arrogant, self-righteous man he was, but she couldn't help that this just seemed to fuel the friction between them. Because the sex was still like nothing else she had ever had in her entire life to that point. And it made her feel everything every time. The intoxication of their push and pull, the way he believed in her, it was all so empowering and it emboldened her. She wanted to do everything with him, consume him, his scent, his body, his voice, hold the way his eyes looked into hers forever. 

Jesus, she had actually wanted desperately to give him head in his car, she had told him to push his seat back and climbed over into the footwell as he looked at her, surprise evident in his eyes. And she loved that could surprise him, and perhaps, that she could surprise herself when she was with him. 

But at the same time professionally, she wanted to be more autonomous, she didn’t want to have to run things by him, put up with him doing very little for all that return. She wanted to be the boss bitch and she was getting there. He wasn’t interfering too much, letting her run things her way but still she wasn’t autonomous. Yet now she knew about now the bosses and had an understanding of some of their rules and ways, she was kind of okay with having him as a buffer, for the moment anyhow.

Plus she couldn’t tell Ruby or Annie what was going on, she could barely even acknowledge what she was doing to herself. Sleeping with a man she had shot. It was a bit too much to absorb. So she compartmentalised it in a part of her brain she could ignore. She was sure he did the same. She very much doubted Mick had a clue either.

She paused her thoughts of annoyance at Rio as the man stopped in front of her. Beth resisted the temptation to fold her arms defensively, instead she straightened her back.

“Can I help you?” 

“You got something I need.”

Beth looked at him quizzically. “And what exactly would that be? The sales team left when we closed, at seven, which was three hours back.”

“So you’re all alone then?” 

Beth cursed herself internally for that slip up but ploughed on, face impassive. “Why are you here?”

“Like I said, you got something I need.”

“A spa? Our opening hours are between nine in the morning and seven in the evening, please feel free to come back during those hours and one of the sales team will be happy to assist you.”

“Money.”

Beth kept her expression neutral, her tone of voice light. “We don’t keep cash overnight in the building.”

The man laughed at her. “No, I wasn’t talking about cash from the tubs, I was talking about the fake cash that I’ve heard about, from my old boss.”

“Old boss?”

The man shrugged. “We parted ways.”

“Well, it’s enterprising to start out on your own but I have no idea about fake cash and if I did, I wouldn’t be mixing it up with my business. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to close up now so I’m ready for Mick to collect me.” Beth motioned towards the nearest door with her head. He hadn’t come in through that door but still, she’d check the locks on the others when he’d left.

And she would also have to check with Rio about what exactly their client had been saying to his couriers. 

“No.”

Beth narrowed her eyes. “No?”

“That’s what I said.” The man pulled a knife out of his jacket pocket. “And there ain’t nobody but you in here, I watched you on the same night twice now, you come on your own and leave on your own. There ain’t nobody waiting on you. So, get me the money you have, and you’re gonna tell me where you make it and how, give me all I need to make my own, then I’m gonna go. If you do all as I tell you, you won’t get hurt.”

“No.” Beth looked at the man cooly, ignoring the knife.

“No?”

“There is no money.”

“You’re lying to me.” The man stepped closer to her, brandishing the knife in her face.

Beth looked at it and then at him, shaking her head. “Really? Why would I lie to you?”

“Because you don’t want me to have what you got, but tough shit lady, you're all on your own and you’re gonna give me what I want or I will cut you.”

Before Beth could respond her phone began ringing, instinctively she moved her arm to get it out of her jeans pocket, managing to pull it out, but then the man moved swiftly and her phone suddenly clattered on the floor, bouncing loudly as the screen shattered and the ring tone cut off. Beth clutched at her arm, not yelping, not reacting, feeling only the sting and burn the sharp blade had made, cutting through the sweater, slicing through her skin.

Both the man and she were silent as she pulled her hand away from her wound, her fingers bloody. She looked at the man, staying silent.

“Where’s the money?” He asked. 

“There is no money.”

“Where. Is. The. Money.” 

Beth looked at him before looking down at her broken phone. She wondered briefly who had called her. Ruby? Annie? Rio? Even Dean? The last one to try and reach her before her life ended because she wasn't giving away the ‘Paper Porcupine’ to anyone. Rio had forced her hand enough, there was nothing she could give anyone else. She waited another beat before repeating what she had already said. “There is no money.”

The man shook his head at her. “Lady, I can keep cutting you all night, I know you have the money. I know it’s you.”

“You’ve been misinformed.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“There is no money. And I can show you around the office, and the staff room and the back room of the showroom. I can show you all those places and you will see for yourself there isn’t a safe or a secret hiding place because there is no money.”

“Where do you keep the drugs then?”

Beth froze momentarily. Would an undercover FBI agent actually cut her arm? Threaten her with a knife? Of course they would. “The product that I passed onto you, when you were working for your former employer, that was delivered to me by someone I did a favour for. If you want to know where they are or how they keep their product, you will have to ask them. I am no longer granting favours. And if you wanted to find their details, they were in the phone you just trashed.”

The man shifted on his feet, looking at the shattered i-phone on the ground, taking a moment to think before speaking again. “Take me to your office, I want to see everything as I trust you just about as much as you trust me.”

Beth nodded, pausing before she turned, careful not to give him her back. Her bleeding arm was throbbing painfully as the blood soaked her sweater, but she refused to touch it, refused to acknowledge her discomfort in front of the man. “It’s this way.”

When she stepped forward the man grabbed her good arm tightly, wrapping his hand around it, squeezing, digging his fingers into her skin. “No, take me with you. You’re not running anywhere.”

Beth walked him to the office, looking as he opened the filing unit by the wall near the desk, pulling papers out. Watched as he looked through the three lower cupboards. Watched as he looked for a safe. Didn’t flinch when he approached her, gesturing with the knife, demanding her to take him to the back rooms. There was nothing there for him to find. She had to come up with a plan to make him not kill her, to not maim her but she didn't know what. 

He grabbed her arm and dragged her into the showroom and she started to walk him towards the staff room, started to speak when a voice cut through area.

“Hey.”

The man at her side lowered his knife quickly, trying to shield it from view, swerving his body and pulling her with him to face the main doors, where Rio stood, casually, looking at the scene before him. 

“The spa’s closed.” The man spat out. 

“You sure ‘bout that?”

“Yes, opening hours are between nine and seven, you can come back tomorrow.”

Rio shrugged. Pulled his gun from where he had it tucked away. “But I’m here now. What lil shiny thing you holdin’ there?”

The man brought the knife into view and quickly side-stepped partially behind Beth as he pressed the sharp edge of the blade against Beth’s throat. She gasped, her eyes locked on Rio’s, her pupils shrinking.

Rio spoke calmly. “No need to be rash. Are you lookin’ for somethin’?”

“I was and I won’t find it with you here. So you’re going to go back out of the door you came in from or I will cut her open. And don’t think for a second think you can out shoot me. I trained as a butcher, she won’t survive.”

“Is that so?”

“Put the gun down, put your phone down and get out, locking the door behind you.” The man spat the words out venomously. 

Rio didn’t react so the guy moved his hand slightly and Beth made a little hiss as the blade cut into her skin. 

“Okay, take it easy.” Rio put both hands up, and moved down slowly, kneeling on the floor briefly to drop his gun and phone, which he pulled out from his pant pocket. He then gracefully eased back up, keeping his eye on the man, his hands resting in front of his hips. “I’ve done what you asked, so why don’t you let her go.”

The man looked at Rio silently for a moment. “Shit. I know who you are.”

“Yeh?”

“Yes.” The man laughed as he made his decision and as he moved his hand slightly, ready to cut, Beth gasped before there was a loud bang and the pressure suddenly left Beth’s neck, the knife falling down in-front of her as the man’s body slumped down behind her. 

Rio stood perfectly still with the gun he’d concealed under his shirt, tucked into his jeans. Beth couldn’t speak she could only look at him, her mouth slightly ajar. 

He stepped towards her, slowly, lowering his gun as he moved. He stopped about a couple of feet away from her, peering at the body on the floor behind her and then turned his attention back to her, looking her up and down, checking her for injuries.

“You okay Elizabeth?”

Beth swallowed. Her throat was dry and she found she couldn’t speak. She moved her good arm so that her fingers could touch her neck, checking for blood, checking for her own pulse. Checking to see she was alive. She looked at him and nodded slightly.

He nodded back looking her up and down again before moving back to where he had stood, picking up his phone and other gun, tucking the gun back into his pants and unlocking his phone. He called someone and spoke to them briefly, before putting his phone in his pocket and approaching Elizabeth again, slowly. Like she was a wounded animal.

“Mick’s gonna be here any minute now an’ Carlos will bring the van. My other boy will delete all recorded evidence of this from your system, check the cameras in the area. He's working out if this one was acting alone. But right now, we need to get a bucket with hot water, bleach, paper towels, black trash bags and gloves too, we gonna clear this up. You got all that here?”

Beth nodded.

“You think you can find that for me?”

Beth nodded again. She’d been set a task which she could do. She swallowed as she took a step and then another and then another and then she found herself able to function on auto-pilot. Walk to the staff room, go to the closet they kept the cleaning items in. Pull out what they needed. Walk back to where Rio was with Mick. Mick acknowledged her, his eyes swooping from her neck to her arm. 

Mick said nothing but gently took the cleaning products from her. Everything then happened in a daze as Carlos appeared and they all helped wrap the body up, each of them cleaning their shoes with a bleach solution before the guys left carrying the body out and Beth started cleaning the area. She didn’t think about what she was cleaning, just making sure she bleached everything. She knew how to clean. She wasn’t finished when Rio came back in with Mick and they all worked together, washing the floor again. Wiping down the walls nearby several times, covering their tracks. They put all the paper towels in the trash bag, Rio broke the mop and put it in there too, putting Beths and his gloves in the bags before Mick picked the trash up, nodding to Rio and disappearing into the night. 

Rio helped Beth put the unused paper towels back in the closet, watched as she left a note for the cleaners asking them to do a total deep clean of the showroom the following night as she’d dropped a printer toner. Rio then led Beth out of the showroom, after grabbing her purse for her, finding her broken phone and slipping it in. He set the showroom alarm, locked up for her and when she went to walk to her own car in the staff car park he shook his head.

“Uh-uh Mama. You’re coming with me. You’re cut up and we need to wash our clothes in colour bleach and scrub our skin, shit like that.”

Beth managed to squeak. “I can do that from home.”

“Elizabeth, you’re in shock, I can’t let you drive or leave you to go home as I gotta make sure that we clean up properly.”

Beth didn’t know what to say to that but followed Rio to his car and stepped in, saying nothing when she saw how the seats had been lined in trash bags. She didn’t pay attention to the drive or the off street garage he parked in, or the building entrance they walked into, the floor they walked up to, his front door, the wide space the apartment occupied, the two floors it had. Beth then let him remove her boots after he removed his shoes and she watched as he put her purse down by the door and put one of his guns in a unit nearby. She followed him to a side room, his utility room, watching as he put the shoes on an old newspaper, ready to be cleaned again later. 

He then started stripping, methodically and Beth followed suit, removing socks and pants. She hissed when she tried to move her arm to pull her sweater off it, so Rio damped a cloth, held it gently over the wound, damping the dried blood so the sweater was no longer stuck to her arm. He helped her remove it, looking and frowning at her wound before motioning to her to take her panties and bra off too. 

There was nothing sexual about the strip, it was methodical, a clean up. 

He put all their clothes in the washer once they were naked, and Beth was too on auto-pilot to be self conscious about that fact, but he knew her well enough as he handed her a long black t-shirt from his laundry basket so she could cover up and be comfortable. She smiled gratefully at him as she pulled it on. It barely fitted over her chest, stretching obscenely but neither of them paid attention to that. Beth registered that she liked that it smelt of him, and she watched absentmindedly as he pulled on a pair of sweatpants. 

She observed him as he put detergent and coloured clothes bleach in the washer as he set it off and she wondered momentarily about her bra. If the setting would destroy it. 

But then Rio was walking out of the room, his gun and phone in one hand and she followed him to his kitchen, taking the glass of juice he poured for her, drinking it under his instruction. Taking the painkillers for her arm that she registered was throbbing and bleeding through his t-shirt, not that Rio seemed to mind. He led her to his bedroom, up the stairs, into his ensuite. They stripped again and he checked her arm, cleaning it with iodine solution which made her hiss. He told her it was deep, that he’d put butterfly stitches on it after their shower, wrap it in a bandage overnight, but they’d need to check it tomorrow morning. She might need proper stitches to help it heal.

The words ‘their’ and ‘they’ stuck in Beth’s head as he led her into the shower, standing her under the warm rainfall spray with its perfect pressure. He handed her a cleansing bar ‘for your face, its rice bran, good shit’ and then he stood behind her, to wash her hair, twice, massaging her scalp and neck. She let him use a Korean wash cloth loaded with shower gel on her ears, neck and shoulders and arms, down to her torso, he was careful over breasts and stomach, before moving over her hips and ass, swiping softly at the space between her legs before moving to her thighs and legs, ankles and feet. 

He then shooed her out of the shower, pointing at the clean towels before turning to wash himself and Beth wrapped her body in a soft fluffy grey towel, wrapping her hair in a smaller one. She moved slowly standing in front of the mirror, checking her neck for the knife scratch the man left there. She realised she’d have to wear a scarf for a few days to hide it.

Rio stepped out of the shower, patting his skin down before wrapping a towel around his waist. He put a jar of face cream and an expensive looking glass bottle of oil on the counter, smiling at Beth as she unscrewed the jar lid, dabbing the cream onto her face, smoothing it in, watching as Rio followed suit. She used a little of the oil, which smelt of sandalwood and was rich in rosehip on her arms and legs, over the neck scratch before watching Rio put some in his hands, patting some oil onto his arms and the scars on his chest that Beth was trying to not pay too much attention to. Instead she brushed her teeth using a spare bamboo toothbrush he’d laid out for her.

It was weirdly so very easy to be this domestic with him, it was comfortable and the quiet intimacy between them was strangely natural. 

Rio checked Beth’s arm, cleaning it again, she grimaced at the sting but was quiet as he put on the antiseptic cream, carefully placing the butterfly stitches before wrapping a bandage securely over the wound. He dropped his towel putting it on the towel rack and he gently took Beth’s off her, leaving her naked in his bathroom as he walked to his bed. 

She followed him, hesitantly, but he pulled back the covers nonchalantly and she climbed in after him, lying down beside him. They didn’t touch.

Beth closed her eyes and did something she wasn’t used to doing with Rio. Or anyone.

She was honest. She told him everything that had happened after she sent him the message. She told Rio she didn’t think she’d make it. That she had been scared because she couldn't get herself out of that one. She said she was sorry. She meant she was sorry for not just not listening, but she what she’d done to him too, and for leaving him with Turner but she didn't explain it.

He didn’t respond, he just pulled her to him, pulled her head against the skin between his shoulder and his chest, so her face pressed against the scar she’d inflicted on him. She clung to him, her arms wrapped around him, as he held her tightly. She realised then that she was sobbing, weeping uncontrollably, but she couldn't stop herself and he didn’t try to stop her, he just held her.

She woke up when it was almost light, still pressed into his side, her face still smushed against his scar. She took a few breaths before she moved as gently as she could away from him, needing to pee. He moaned slightly in his sleep at the loss of her body and turned to the space she had occupied, seeking her in his sleep. 

She used the bathroom and wrapped herself in a towel before heading back into the bedroom, unsure of whether to crawl back into his bed or to leave him to sleep, but he sat up a little when she got closer to the bed.

“You okay?” His voice was thick with sleep.

“Yeah, just needed to pee. You okay?”

He nodded, his eyes dark as he looked her up and down, noting the towel. “You gonna get back into bed with me?”

Beth swallowed. “Do you want me to?”

He nodded before asking her. “Do you want to?”

She nodded, dropping the towel, letting Rio see all of her again in the early morning light before she crawled back under the covers beside him. They looked at one another before she moved to lie across him, pressing her full breasts against his chest, moving her lips over his, feeling his hands on her hips before she kissed him. Softly at first, then deeper, pressing his lips open, licking into his mouth, stroking his tongue with his own.

He moved his hands up her back, to her neck and the back of her head, holding her gently as they explored each others mouths, tasting, testing, teasing until they were both breathing deep and fast and his cock was pressing firmly against her stomach. He flipped her onto her back and she squeaked, making him smile as he moved down her body, his lips pressing kisses onto her skin, sucking her nipples into peaks, slowly sliding further down until he reached between her legs. He paused for a moment.

“Not gonna stop me this time, Mama?”

“No!”

He smirked at her, pushing her thighs a little more widely apart as he settled between them, his fingertips tracing her skin gently before his lips pressed against her mound, kissing his way to her entrance and she closed her eyes, remembering the last time he’d done this to her in her bed. How he’d taken his time with her, how he found what made her react, how he sucked and licked and pressed his tongue where she wanted him too, just as he was doing now. How he worked her up into a state so that when he added his fingers she came, hard. 

But this was now and she found herself moving her hips as he worked on her, trying to chase the sensation of pressure he was building inside her. She didn’t stifle her moans as he firmly licked into her, moving his lips to suck at her clit as he pressed two fingers inside her, and just like before, she came for him, crying out as her body shuddered. He sat up a little to watch the aftershocks of her orgasm, stroking the inside of her thighs.

She looked down at him, wide eyed, her hair wild and she watched, not moving, as he crawled back up her body, his stubble beard, lips and nose wet with her, his eyes bright. She reached out, pulling his face to hers, tasting herself on his lips and tongue, moving one of her hands to feel for his cock and he moaned as she pumped him. He let her stroke him a few times before he pulled her hand away, taking hold of her other wrist, pinning them both down by her side as he pressed his hips against hers, pressing his cock against her. He moved his tip back and forth against her entrance a few times until it took and he pushed inside her, waiting a beat before pressing further in, and then pressing all the way in.

They both moaned in unison at the final thrust, at the depth he reached, how good it felt. 

He leant down to kiss her and then started to pump in and out of her earnestly, holding her wrists down as he angled his hips against her, rubbing against her in the exact right way, making her gasp. He watched her, as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp, wriggle out of the orgasm he was building deep within her cunt but he wouldn’t let her move, he kept on working her before suddenly letting her wrists go, pulling out as she moaned at the loss of him. 

He moved to the edge of the bed, pulling her with him, sitting up, planting his feet on the floor, instructing her simply. “Ride me.”

She didn’t need him to repeat himself, she moved onto his lap, spreading her legs widely as she lowered herself onto his cock, feeling him fill her up, her hands clutching at his shoulders and his fell to her lower back and trailed up her sides. He watched her for a moment as she worked herself on him, finding her rhythm, rolling her hips and arching her back, thrusting her chest against his. He groaned at that, leaning his head down to bite at nipple before replacing his mouth with a hand, tweaking each of her nipples as her arousal began to peak.

He fisted his free hand into the back of her hair, speaking at her hoarsely. “Come on Elizabeth, come on me.”

She gasped, lifting herself a little more, angling herself a little better until she got to the point of no return, and she came on him, clinging onto his shoulders, crying out loudly through her orgasm until she had to collapse on him. He held her as she lay her head on his shoulder, gently rubbing her neck, placing light kisses on her wild hair. She turned her face to him and they kissed gently at first, until she deepened the kiss, swiping her tongue over his.

“I want to make you come.” She whispered in-between kisses.

“Yeh?” Rio asked.

“Yes.” She answered.

“Okay.” He stood up, carrying her with him as she shrieked, clinging on, letting him take her to his wide mirror leaning on a wall. “Will you be good on your feet?”

“Mmmmhmmm.” Beth nodded.

He loosed his grip on her thighs so she gingerly lowered her legs, reaching the floor, letting him move her to face the mirror. He stood behind her and she couldn’t help but tingle in anticipation of what he was about to do. He used one hand to put pressure on her upper back and used her other hand to pull her hips back so she was bent over in front of him.

“Put your hands on the mirror in-front of you Elizabeth.” His voice was deep and low as he moved closer to her exposed behind, taking his cock in hand.

She did as he asked looking up at him as he looked at her. He spoke then as he pressed his cock into her wet entrance. “Keep your eyes on me, Mami.” 

She moaned at his entry, moaned at the different angle, moaned as he took a few thrusts to push deep inside of her whilst staring at where they were joined. But then he looked into the mirror, his eyes locking on hers as he started a brutal pace, slamming into her from behind. Beth gasped, her hands trying to cling to the mirror but only managing to scratch it, so she flattened her palms, pressing them against the glass as much as she could as Rio pounded into her. 

The noise of his hips slapping against her skin was obscene, the expression on his face, determined, pained, turned on, needy, the way he held her gaze, the sweat dripping from both their bodies, the feel of his powerful thrusts immense as he held her hips in place. Beth couldn't help her animalistic moans. It was intoxicating. It was powerful. It was a complete and utter turn on. 

It didn’t take long for Rio to come from that position and he groaned as his hips stuttered. He spilled inside her before collapsing on her back, wrapping his arms around her middle.

“Fuck, Elizabeth.” Was all he could say and they stayed in place for an extra long minute, until his breath had evened out a little. He planted some kisses on her back before gently pulling out of her making her hiss at his loss as he stood. He smiled at her, before pulling her back into bed, making her lie on her side so he could spoon her. 

“You smell so good, you know that?” He murmured into her skin.

Beth smiled shyly, enjoying feeling his skin on hers, enjoying being cocooned by his body as they both came down from their orgasms. Beth wasn’t exactly a cuddle person per-say and she doubted Rio was either, but this felt good. It felt natural. It felt, right. Being in his bed felt like home. She didn't ponder that thought for too long as the tiredness pulled her under.

She woke with him pressing a kiss to her forehead and the smell of coffee.

“Hey you. Time to wake up, it’s eight already an' I got meetings to go to.”

She opened her eyes slowly. “Eight? Shit. I missed the school run, shit.”

“I dropped a message to your sister when I got up, tall one not small change. Told her we’d had to work overnight an’ you broke your phone. She messaged some excuse to spa-man. An' knife man was acting alone. He ain't connected to anyone.”

Beth sat up, absorbing the information and pulling the sheet with her shy now, as Rio had showered and dressed. “Okay. Who's spa-man?”

Rio tilted his head. “Your husband.”

Beth reached for her coffee, taking a sip before stating firmly. “We’re 100% separated and over.”

“Still living together, still married, still your husband.” Rio’s face was impassive.

Beth shrugged, she couldn’t argue with that. “In name only. I don’t have the money to pay for a divorce as I’m just trying to cover the debts he got us into.”

“You’re earning Elizabeth, so manage your shit. Sort out what debt you’re liable for an’ get rid of spa-man. I know you, an’ I’m sure any bad shit will trace back to him which is good, but if you think I’m gonna be your indefinite mistress, you got it all wrong.” He smirked slightly, leaning forward to kiss her on the lips before standing back up and pulling the sheets off her, making her shriek.

He admired her body for a long moment before nodding in the direction of the bathroom. “I’m making eggs, go jump in the shower an’ we can eat before I drop you off. Your clothes are dry, I’ll bring ‘em through. Your sweaters a mess though, I threw it out, gonna give you one of my hoodies, cos nothin' else I got will cover your girls.”

Beth rolled her yes at him but spoke softly. “Thank you, and for the coffee.” She stood up off the bed in front of him, trying not to feel self-conscious as she padded to his bathroom.

She washed, moisturised and dressed as quickly as she could, letting him check her butterfly stitches. He told her she should get real stitches and re-bandaged her. She ate his rich scrambled eggs and wilted spinach, admiring his skills and he teased her about her skills as she put on mascara, blush and lipstick whilst he drove them to ‘Boland Bubbles’, pulling up by her mini van. 

“You gonna be okay?”

“I think so.”

“You understand why you can’t meet someone alone now? Why you can’t give them identifiable places to trace you when you can’t do the same to them?”

Beth swallowed back the insult at the tip of her tongue. He was right, of course. The bastard. He had also killed someone less than 12 hours before because they had tried to kill her. He was right and she had to acknowledge that. “Yes, I understand.”

“Good. He was less than a second away from cuttin’ your jugular Elizabeth an’ I don’t want either of us to go through that again.”

Beth looked across at him. His hands were gripping the wheel tightly. His jaw was set. She spoke softly. “Neither do I.”

He looked at her then and she leant across the console to kiss him. She pulled away after a minute and he nodded at her. She opened the car door but stopped, turning back to face him. “Thank you.”

He smiled at her. “So, now you know where I live, maybe you can come drop by mine tomorrow morning, after the school run.”

“I can do that.” She smiled, at him, then stepped out of the car, shutting the door gently and fishing in her purse for her van keys, looking up as he drove away. She continued smiling, absentmindedly, but as she unlocked her car she felt her arm, her injured arm, being squeezed as she was spun around. 

She yelped in pain and pulled her arm out of Dean’s grip, looking at him.

“Beth! What is going on!”

“Don’t grab me.”

“What happened to your arm and why weren’t you home for the school run, huh? The kids were lost without you. And if Ruby got home, why couldn't you, huh? And were you the one to leave the office in a mess last night? And what happened to your phone? And what, what are you wearing? And who was that?” Dean gestured in the direction the G-Wagon had taken.

Beth took a breath, holding her arm against her chest. “I had to do a work all nighter. You’re the kids parent too, you share joint responsibility and can manage them perfectly on your own. I do hope you haven’t lost any of them though.”

“You know what maybe I will manage them on my own, huh, maybe I’ll take them to my Mom’s, huh? Maybe you need to be reminded of what your priorities should be.”

Beth looked at the man she had spent over 20 years of her life with and wondered, not for the first time, at what point had everything stopped making sense? Had things ever made sense with him?

“I’m currently working to get us out of the debt you got us in. I bought you a goddamn business which I am secretly managing for you behind the scenes as you have repeatedly nearly ruined our family and you’re threatening me? Go ahead, try taking the kids from me and see what happens this time Dean. Now get back to the showroom and earn your fucking keep.”

Dean’s face froze in shock as Beth turned her back on him, getting into the van, locking the door, turning the engine on and driving off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from Mazzy Star's 'Fade into You'. All the 90's feels with that one. 
> 
> Please do let me know if I should add tags, excuse mistakes (no beta) and keep on fighting the good fight:
> 
> “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” Angela Y. Davis


	3. Move Over & Give Us Some Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth and Rio hook up on a very regular schedule, but there are no labels on this thing, okay?  
> Trigger warning for gun violence at the end. There will be an epilogue chapter...

The traffic had been a nightmare on route back from the school, there had been an accident at some point that morning and no one was moving anywhere fast. Beth had tried Rio twice but he was on a call both times, so she gave up and messaged him instead whilst sat feeling frustrated in static traffic. He hadn't responded to her. 

She glanced at her watch, aware that nearly an hour had been shaved off their scheduled ‘meeting’ and grabbed the box of baked treats before stepping out of her car. She had been lucky to find a parking spot close enough to his apartment and Rio told her to always park on the street, in a busy area. As she locked the car doors she looked up and down the sidewalk, putting her keys in her purse, casually checking for anyone staring or acting sketchily before she walked down the block to Rio’s building on the corner of the street. 

She buzzed on his intercom and stood in line of the camera, looking directly into it, shrugging her shoulders, hoping her face looked apologetic enough. She waited a moment, wondering if he was pissed at her but the front door made that clicking noise, signalling it had been unlocked and she pushed it open, waiting for it to lock on closing before she climbed the flights of stairs to his floor as quickly as her legs would take her. 

The time they could spend together was precious and limited due to her time as Mom, a part time shift worker in ‘Paper Porcupine’ to keep her legitimate paper trail and cash creating, as well as running the books at ‘Boland Bubbles’ to wash the cash and handle the pharmacy coming in and out of the state through the spa containers, not to mention the extra additional items they were smuggling. She knew Rio had their shared business enterprises, Marcus to look after, his bars and then there were his other business interests which all in all, were time consuming and involved weird hours. 

As more time could not be bought or bargained for within their worlds, they had to make the most of the time they could find. Plus, they were also trying their damnedest to not label what they were and thus were doing their best not to be caught out by anyone they knew who might ask what-the-actual-fuck where they doing.

Because Beth had already had a talking to from Ruby the night after she had first stayed at Rio’s. Ruby turned up early at the ‘Paper Porcupine’ to talk to Beth before Annie got there and so Beth had told her everything as she locked the shop up, trying not to over use her freshly stitched arm.

"Wait a minute, so gang-friend shot someone for you, took you back to his place last night, took care of you, in all possible senses, and as of this morning, he still lives there?”

Beth had rolled her eyes but Ruby remained wide-eye in disbelief because she couldn't quite comprehend what she was being told.

"And just to clarify, the courier that was affiliated to both your and Rio's contact, he went rogue to steal from us and stabbed you to get you to hand our money over?"

"It was more of a cut than a stab..."

Ruby's face contorted. "Beth, did he or did he not use a knife on you?"

Beth sighed but nodded. 

“It could have been so much worse than it was. I’m with gang-friend on this, as you’ve got to be more careful...”

“Ruby, I know, all right, I know. Leave no trace, or rather, leave a trace to someone else. That’s what he’s been doing all along.”

Ruby muttered under her breath. “Yeah, to you.”

They were silent for a moment before Ruby spoke again, hesitantly. “What exactly is he to you Beth?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean homeboys message to me this morning, like, how did he even know you do the school run? How did he even have my number?”

Beth shrugged at Ruby.

Ruby swallowed before continuing. “Look, I am forever grateful that he showed up for you last night but what is it between you? I mean, he wanted you dead a few weeks back, he’d have had no qualms about ending Annie and me but hasn’t because of you. And man, after he found out about the hitman on the crime gossip grapevine, and who’d have guessed all those criminal bitches were such gossipy bitches, I thought we’d all be goners. But no, he just laughed, revelled in embarrassing you and told you that you seriously owed him. But what is it that you owe him Beth?”

Beth flushed at the memory. “What do you mean?”

“Do you like have Stockholm syndrome?”

Beth shook her head vigorously at Ruby. “What? No!”

“But you had sex with him again?”

“It was just a one off.” Beth lied easily. She had already planned the set of underwear she was going to wear tomorrow morning.

But Ruby’s head tilted to one side, seeing through Beth, and she took a good and judgemental look at her best friend. “Okay, so how many one offs have there been in the last few weeks?”

Beth looked away from Ruby at that, unwilling to lie to her about it and also unwilling to be honest.

“Beth I get it, you share a connection with him that neither one of you seem to want to lose, and I’m not an idiot, he's an attractive man with swagger. He listens to you, he sees you, and yes, in some ways he kind of respects you and when you’ve been married to someone who hasn’t done any of those things in since, well, forever, I get it. But you shot him and he spent months wanting you dead. This is not healthy. This thing with him is not healthy.” 

Beth hadn’t responded to that statement as Annie had saved her by coming crashing in, demanding to know why Beth’s phone was dead but Beth had thought about what Ruby had said over the following weeks. 

She would be the first to admit that hers and Rio’s history was messy, that it was still messy between them. It wasn’t how anyone would necessarily choose to run their businesses, it wasn't how many would keep acquaintances in check and it definitely wasn’t a healthy setting for an intense and highly charged sexual ‘relationship’ but here they were. 

Getting high on each other and fucking at every single opportunity they got. 

Beth had to tell herself on repeat, it’s just ’s-e-x’. But she was very aware that she definitely had a whole array of feelings involved in their fucking and that her feelings were perhaps on the deeper side of balance scales. She thought of him constantly, he was at the forefront of her brain in her business dealings as if she was uncertain of her decision making, she would ponder what would Rio do in this situation? 

And since they both crossed the line into intimacy again, she caught herself at various moments throughout the day wondering where he was and she would find herself messaging him about nothing in particular, like about a new sushi place she’d heard about down town, not because she hadn’t heard from him in eight hours and couldn’t handle the lack of contact. No, not that, not that at all, it was just because he might want to know about it...

And sometimes it felt like an all consuming giddiness, Beth would not admit how much space Rio occupied in her mind to anyone, she could barely admit it to herself. But she knew just how antsy she felt on the days they didn’t see one another and that she felt a combination of butterflies and calm on the days she did. 

She craved his presence, his calm balance, the light in his dark expressive eyes, his deep and manly scent, she just wanted to reach out and touch him and she did constantly when they were alone together, as he did with her. In his presence, she was far more physical, more touchy feely than she had ever been with any other adult in her life. He had no problems touching her, he liked to be close to her, skin on skin as much as he could be and she was learning how to be this way from him. He was rubbing off on her in every single way. 

And more often than not lately, despite feeling exhausted when she headed home after her late shifts, she found herself staying up an extra hour baking to unwind, to feel like she was doing something more for her kids so they could eat her love for them as she had less time for them, but also, so that she could take home baked cookies to Rio for him and Marcus. Though in the last two weeks she found that more often than not, she was baking savoury treats because Rio had admitted ‘I’m more of a savoury person’. 

She had at some point recently in this whatever it was, began to want to go out on a date with him, fantasising what they would do. If she were honest to herself, she kind of just wanted to be able to walk down the street holding his hand, to be out in the open with him and maybe share breakfast with him in one of his hipster cafes as a couple. To be able to be openly affectionate with him outside the four walls of his apartment. To feel what it would be like for him to be overtly affectionate with her outside of his apartment. 

But the reality was this wasn’t something they could do. She knew it wasn't what their ‘thing’ was, they weren’t a couple, could never be one and because of that, she swallowed down those thoughts and tried to deny them to herself. But she had begun to fantasise about it, craving it more and more.

They still hooked up in ‘Boland Bubbles’ on a Tuesday which was admittedly a little less intimate between them there, the lack of a bed making it hard to get naked and caress post-coitally. But Beth had been heading to Rio’s after the school runs on Monday, Thursday and Friday and in the safety of his apartment, they stripped off each others clothes and physically worked out any lingering tensions, not talking about their combined businesses until after all the sex acts, or not at all, instead they mainly pulled guttural noises out of each other, intent on getting the other off. She felt them connecting more and more through every touch and caress and bite and orgasm shudder as they starred into each others eyes. 

Occasionally, they still met in the park in the late afternoons or on the weekends with their children, casually sitting near one another but not too close. Sharing smiles as they watched their children interact with one another. Sharing their own knowing looks. Talking shop to make it feel less intimate. 

Rio was already standing by his door when Beth reached his floor and Beth shrugged apologetically at him about to go into a speech but he frowned at her, pointing to his ear pods, uttering a low, ‘uh-huh’ so she knew he was on the phone. He let her in his apartment and closed the door behind her, looking her up and down as she slipped out of her heels, dropping her purse by them before brandishing the box of baked goodies at him. He nodded his head towards to the kitchen area and she padded over there, leaving the box on the counter by the wall, where he usually put all the goodies she brought him. 

He’d followed her into the kitchen, smiling at her as she turned around nearly bumping into him. 

She whispered at him. “We have less than an hour.”

He looked at her unimpressed, mouthing silently. “You’re late.”

“I got caught in the aftermath of a traffic accident.”

He didn’t respond to that, he just looked at her again, from head to toe and back, lingering on her breasts and smirking. She was wearing a shirt dress, one that she’d worn several times before for their Tuesday evening meetings, as it was easy to lift up or take off. He definitely liked it. She liked it more as it was comfortable, flattering and didn’t require ironing.

She kept her eyes on him as he gestured with his phone and took a step back walking towards the windows away from her so he could continue his conversation so Beth got herself a glass of water from his filter tap and then went to use his bathroom, fluffing her hair in the mirror and pinching her cheeks slightly. She felt good. She looked good because she felt good. Confident. And as she walked back into this open living space and he was still on the phone, and he was looking like he did and well, Beth wanted him and she didn’t want to lose anymore time. 

She walked up to him, and he narrowed his eyes at her, feeling the energy she was radiating. He hooked his head to the side, trying to work out what exactly she was going to do as she approached him. And all she did was stand in front of him and lift her dress up a little so she could move her hands under her skirt, where she carefully pulled her panties down her legs, lifting each leg separately so she could hook them in her hands. She then undid a button on the pocket of his shirt and stuffed the panties inside it.

Rio’s pupils had widened at her and he licked his lips as she stepped back away from him, slowly undoing the top button of her dress, her hand moving to the next button as she turned from him, walking slowly towards his bedroom. She could hear him trying to hurry his call along as she walked to stand in-front of his favourite mirror, their mirror, looking in the reflection at him as she finished unbuttoning the rest of the dress, letting it slip off her shoulders and pool at her feet. She watched him in the doorway of his bedroom, watching her, his mouth slack, his eyes drinking her body in. 

“Yeh, listen, as I said, I’m late for a meeting so we’ll pick this up later. Yeh, okay, do that. Yeh.” His last yeh wasn't a question though. 

He put his phone down on the floor, undoing his belt buckle as he made his way over to her, standing directly behind her, his hands reaching out to unclasp her bra before he pulled it down her shoulders, her arms and slipping it off her hands before walk around to stand in front of her, getting on his knees by her feet. He looked up at her taking her all in, his mouth ajar.

“Look at you, standing bright an’ naked in all that light, waitin’ all impatiently for me.”

Beth opened her mouth to speak up but found she couldn’t as his hands gripped the back of her thighs, sliding up so they were directly below her ass cheeks, pulling her legs a little wider apart.

“How ‘bout I warm you a bit, huh? Get you ready for my cock, cos you’ve had a whole weekend without it an’ you’re gonna feel it.”

Beth gasped as she watched his face disappear between her legs, feeling his days old stubble brush on her inner thighs, feeling his nose in her folds, feeling one hand press firmly into the flesh under her ass as the other came to open her up for his mouth. And then his lips were on her, his tongue licking over her entrance before he focused the tip of his tongue on the bundle of nerves at the front of her pussy, his fingers teasing her entrance. 

She moaned at the sensation, gently rocking her hips into the rhythm he was creating with his mouth on her and two of his fingers slipping over her and pushing inside of her, sliding easily with the wetness that flowed in his presence, the wetness he was now encouraging. 

It had been a couple of weeks since the night she’d stayed at his and they both knew each others bodies so well by now, knew how to get each other off super fast and how to make it last but it still felt so new to Beth. That he could turn her on so much, that the desire she felt could be this intense. 

A cry escaped her lips as she began to shudder slightly, Rio intent on getting her off fast and he had found that place inside of her that only his fingers and cock could reach, the place that gave her the deepest orgasms. She had to reach out and put her palm against the mirror for balance and that made her look away from the top of his head between her legs and look at their reflection instead. 

She could only see his back but he was still dressed whilst she was completely unashamedly naked, and he was on his knees for her, his face buried between her thighs, his head and hand moving in unison between her legs and the image was so, so full on and erotic. This powerful man worshipping her from the ground up, this powerful man on his knees for her, this powerful man seeing the power in her and letting her know what it did to him... she couldn’t help the heat that flushed through her, the flutters inside turning into full on contractions as she started to come, the moans and gasps as he worked in flow with her body. 

After a moment she put her hands on either side of his head, gently pushing it away from her sensitive folds, looking in awe hazily at his face, wet with her, his pupils dark and wide, his smile wider. He pulled further back from her, slowly stood up, standing so close in front of her, scanning her flushed face, her taught nipples, her glowing skin from her orgasm high. He leant down to kiss her and she whimpered, kissing him back, her hands reaching around his neck as she pressed her body against his, feeling his arms wrap around her sides, his hands smoothing down her back to her ass, settling on her cheeks and gripping them. 

She could feel him, hard in his jeans, pressing against her lower belly as their tongues danced and both their faces were wet with her. She wanted to feel him then, so she moved a hand to try to get between them, to rub over him, but he held her tight to him, enjoying the press of their bodies, enjoying her kiss. He eventually pulled back, letting her go so he could undo his jeans and she undid the buttons of his shirt, each of them shedding his clothes so he could move behind her, pulling her hips back a little so her ass stuck out.

She kept her eyes on his face in the mirror as he stared open mouthed at her, pumping his hard length in his hand twice before leading it to her wet entrance. They both sighed as he pushed his cock inside her, slowly grinding in and out a few times before he bent his knees a little more to get a better angle and he thrust in all the way, making Beth exhale loudly and fall forward a little. Rio moved his hands to her hips to steady her, to grip her, before he began intently pumping in and out of her. 

He looked up at her then, in the mirror, his lower lip jutting out as his eyes drank in her body, her hips moving with his, his hands gripping them tightly, her tits loose and heavy, bouncing with his thrusts, her nipples peaked, pointy and pink. She bit her lip to try her stifle her moans but she couldn't keep them in, it was pointless, so she let them out, flattened her palm on the mirror in front of her as the other hand squeezed his on her hip. 

Their bodies began to gleam with sweat, rocking to the pace he set, and Beth squeezed him tightly every few thrusts, pulling deep guttural noises out of him that made her squeeze even harder until his pace became erratic and he wrapped his arm around her chest, holding her tight to him as began to come. He thrust a few more times with his release until he was done and he kept her close, staying inside her as his arms held her tight, his head pressed against her neck, his breaths shallow and loud in her ear.

They stayed that way, letting him come down a little until he slipped out and she made a noise at the loss of him, making him smile and pull her by the hand to his bed, so he could lay her down, lie on top of her for a while, warm skin on warm skin. He stroked her face over and over with his pinky finger, smirking contentedly at her, responding when she leant up, pushing her lips against his. They kissed languidly for a while and Beth’s hands smoothed down Rio’s back, squeezing his tiny butt and Rio started to rock against her more, the weight of his legs pushing against her legs, spreading them apart.

Beth paused the kiss, looking wide eyed at him as she felt him hard against her again and she gasped as he nudged his way to her folds, probing against her till he found his target, pushing inside Beth’s centre, still wet with both of their come. He surged back down, kissing her sloppily as he rocked against her gently, building a rhythm as they both panted through their kisses, getting each other off again. 

Rio slipped a hand under her lower back to arch it a little, before moving his hands down to underneath her knees lifting them up as he fucked into her harder, pulling moans out of Beth who in turn squeezed Rio’s cock on every deep thrust. She reached her hands out to the back of his neck, pulling him down again to kiss her, wanting to be connected in every way as he purposefully hit the angle inside her, intentionally rushing her towards her second orgasm. 

Beth cried out when it hit her, feeling everything loosen within her, feeling the intensity and warmth spread through her body as she squeezed his cock hard, pulling him along with her. He choked out a curse, burying his head into her neck again as he came deep inside her. They both lay non-moving for a while, letting their breathing return to normal, but Beth started to gently scratch at the back of Rio’s head the way he liked and after a few deep groans, he leant up on his elbows, slipping out of her.

“Hey, now.” He kissed her lips, smirking at her.

“Hey yourself.”

“You look a bit wrecked Mama.”

Beth rolled her eyes at him, but knew she was blushing regardless, which only widened his smirk. “And whose fault is that?”

“Yours, for being too goddamn everything.” He rolled her off suddenly, onto his back on the mattress, stretching until his back cracked before he sat up, turning as he did, to look over his shoulder at her, lazily eyeing her up.

She smiled back at him. “Everything, huh?”

He stood, walking to where he’d left his phone, picking it up, wincing at the time but looking at her sprawled naked and fucked out with messy bed head, flushed cheeks and blown pupils laid on his sheets.

“Yeh, everything.” He licked his lips at her. “You gonna be able to leave the kids with Spa man on Saturday night?”

Beth nodded. “I think so, is there something I need to do for the business?”

Rio walked back towards the bed, checking his messages before looking at her again. “Nah, Marcus is with his Mom, an’ there’s gonna be an opening night of this gallery an’ bar that an old associate is involved with. We could go, have a drink or two, get dinner after. Take you back here, fuck you on my bed till you look like you do right now, all pliant an’ easy going.”

Beth grabbed a pillow and attempted to throw it at him but it was too much effort so it badly missed which made him laugh at her, but he crawled over her, kissing her gently on the lips.

“So, what do you say?”

Beth beamed up at him. “Yes, I say yes.”

Rio had grinned back at her and she’d pulled him down for another kiss before he hauled her off his bed and made her shower hurriedly with him, as they both had to leave.

Beth floated through the rest of the day on an orgasm and Rio high. She found herself smiling more, thinking non-stop about their date, it made the tedious aspects of money printing and dealing with Dean easier and when it got to Friday, she was beaming. She’d made each of the kids their favourite lunches and had driven home easily after dropping them off at school. 

Marcus had a school thing that morning so Rio had sat he’d pop around to see Beth at lunch time and she had spent the morning cleaning the house and sorting the laundry, getting ahead of it for the weekend, not relying on Dean for anything.

Since her blatant honesty those few short weeks back Dean had wavered in how he spoke to Beth, going from scared to accusatory in seconds. He couldn’t work her out anymore. She kind of looked like the Beth he’d spent 20 years with, but she was no longer who he thought she was. Beth kept their conversations to the polite bare minimum and got on with the task of co-parenting. Dean eventually asked Beth what could he do to fix things. To make them go back and she had shaken her head at him.

“It’s too late Dean.”

“So, it’s over?”

Beth had swallowed. It had been over for years, but both of them had been burying their heads in the sand about it. “Yes.”

“So what do we do?”

“Find the old papers, make it official. If we sell the house we still owe the mortgage company money, so, I guess we either live together but separately or do what we planned to do, and get a studio apartment somewhere and maybe you move in there and help out with the kids every night, head over for a day on the weekend. Or I move in there.”

They’d had this conversation a few times but had come to no satisfactory conclusion, Dean didn’t want to completely move out and Beth wasn’t sure she wanted to move out either, but she definitely didn’t want to share a studio apartment with him. She’d bought herself a new mattress and bed which was 100 percent her own now. She was never sharing any form of bed with Dean ever again in any capacity. 

She had also, quietly and without telling him, found the old divorce paperwork and filed them, ready for the next stage in her life to begin. Life was better. And she was finally going on a date with Rio

Rio came around just before midday, letting himself in and surprising her in the laundry room, hugging her from behind, and they started kissing intently, him pressed hard against her back, one hand sneaking in under her pants and panties to feel her as his other hand squeezed her breast. Beth kissed Rio back passionately, pressing her ass against his hardness, her hand caressing the stubble of his face. 

Neither of them heard the footsteps in the kitchen, so wrapped up in each other they didn't realise Dean had come home and was staring at them open mouthed in shock. It was only when he dropped the papers in his hand, the mail from the night before that he’d taken to the Spa to open, the mail that confirmed that he and Beth were now divorced, it was only as the papers hit the ground that Rio stopped kissing Beth and looked up sharply, his body tensing. Beth turned her head, not understanding, until she saw Dean, the betrayed and hurt look eyes.

“Beth, I...” Dean let his words trail away looking at where Rio’s hands were.

Rio pulled his hand out of Beth’s panties, removing the other from her breast before doing the top button of her pants up. He didn’t smirk at Dean just watched coldly as Dean’s face dropped and reddened. Rio moved away from Beth’s back, to stand by her side, in this equally with her.

And it was at that, that step to stand by Beth’s side that made Dean turn his back on them, head to the kitchen door, exiting the house. 

Beth turned her head to look at Rio who quirked his eyebrow at her. 

“He knows it’s over, so very over for years. He just, he didn't know I was with you because, well, we haven’t exactly said what we are.” Beth stuttered over the last part, more embarrassed at saying that to Rio then she had been about Dean catching her and Rio making out heavily in the laundry room with Rio’s hands in her pants. 

To cover her embarrassment she walked across to the papers he’d dropped, picking them up and taking a breath before looking at Rio.

“They’re our divorce papers. They’ve been agreed.”

“So you a single woman?”

“I, I guess.”

Rio stepped into Beth’s space, looking at the papers in her hands. “Something wrong with the paperwork?”

“No, I didn’t mean that...”

“What did you mean Elizabeth?”

Beth swallowed. “Are you single?”

Rio smirked down at her. “I’m not married but I guess I’m seein’ someone.”

Beth narrowed her eyes at him. “Who?”

“Been keeping it on the down low but she got her divorce through today, so we can be a bit more open now, maybe even put a label on it.”

Beth’s heart skipped a beat as Rio grinned at her, and she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, quickly, feeling a wave of things that she didn't want to name just yet. But before she could speak the kitchen door swung open and Rio went instantly tense again. Beth spun around to face Dean, gasping as she did.

Dean had a shotgun in his hands. The gun he’d bought months back. And he was raising it, pointing it at Rio and Beth didn’t think, instantly dropping the papers as she jolted in front of Rio, spreading her arms out, shouting. “No! Dean! What do you think you’re doing!”

Dean spat his words out. “You chose him over me? Him? Over us? Him? Over our family?”

“No Dean! I chose me! Like you have ALWAYS chosen you!”

Dean shook his head venomously. “Everything I did was for our family!”

“You fucked a teenage Amber for our family? And what about all the others you fucked when I had post-natal depression? All those naive and numerous other employees of yours, huh? And Gayle? Your recent ex-boss because her body was so petite and perfect and fuckable compared to mine? Isn’t that what you told me? So tell me how all that cheating on our marriage and betraying our family and taking out three mortgages behind my back to cover debts because of your bad work decisions, tell me how that was all for our family Dean? Tell me how you did everything for our family?”

Rio uttered a quiet ‘fuck’ under his breath as Beth’s words settled in the room. They were all silent for a moment.

“You really don’t think much of me, do you?” Dean’s voice was calm.

Beth swallowed. “I think of our children.”

“Did you ever love me?”

“Dean.”

“No, Beth, when did you stop caring. When did you stop loving me?”

“I don’t know if I ever really loved you.” The unfiltered words just slipped out from Beth’s mouth.

A moment of true honesty. 

It was so quick the way the gun then went off, the impact the shot gun bullet had on her body from the short range distance, throwing her back into Rio. She didn’t fully register what was happening but she saw the look on Deans face as she fell back, Rio’s arms instantly around her, trying to stop her fall. 

She was suddenly on the floor, Rio over her, his eyes shiny and bright and then he was gone from view and it was loud, shouty, there were scuffling noises, but Beth couldn't pay attention to that as her stomach was a flame with pain, an unknown pain she hadn’t felt before. She’d felt the pain of disappointment in adults throughout her childhood and knew it well it as adult too, she’d broken a wrist at some point in childhood too, knew period pain, migraines, had repeatedly managed child birth, the pain post-caesarian, mastitis, knew the pain of losing someone, but this, this pain? It was an intense deep fire that was contained in one area but its effect was spreading. 

She could feel her head getting lighter, she couldn’t feel her legs anymore, and as she lifted her hands from the blood beginning to seep on the kitchen floor she pressed them gently to her middle, where the bullet had impacted. But she felt only the damp warmness of her own blood and ripped apart flesh.

She tried to focus, knowing that she was losing too much blood, she knew she should grab something, press the wound to stop the flow but it was too much, too painful, and suddenly she was thinking of her children. Kenny’s baby face when he was told he’d have a brother to play with, Danny’s face when they first got Buddy, Emma’s sheer joy at learning to do her first proper cartwheel and Jane’s concentration face when she was working on her art. Beth thought of Ruby’s many expressions, but mainly of her smiles, the warmth of her laugh which had soothed all Beth’s woes for decades. Beth thought of Annie too, grouching at her, or happy as she poured them all more wine, or when she was little and ever left Beth's side. Annie was always there. Like Ruby was. 

Beth tried to keep the thought of them all at the front of her mind but they were all slipping from her as she felt herself being pulled back, pulled away, pulled down somewhere safe and warm though she was aware there was someone else there, nearby. A voice calling her. A voice calling her back.

“Elizabeth! Don’t you dare bail on me now! You stay with me, you hear! You hear me Elizabeth?”

Beth listened to the voice and she made every effort to pull herself towards it, willing herself to open her eyes, swallowing. “Rio?”

He was looking down at her, his hands pressing something onto her stomach, his eyebrows knitted together, forehead scrunched up, dark expressive eyes laser focused on her face. And even looking that anxious, he still took what little breath Beth had left away. He looked like he had been made in heaven. She could see it all so clearly now, him as her nemesis, him as her encourager, him as her teacher, him as her partner, him as her equal, him as her supporter, him as her joy. With him, she felt what it was to be alive, or more than that, she felt reborn and free, she felt capable, she felt more. 

Beth gasped at the intensity and also the ridiculousness of it all, of the games they had played, of her wanting him but not wanting to admit it, of him wanting her but not wanting to admit it. It was all like a dance, like a tango that neither of them had learned the steps to, yet here they were refusing to back out on performing it because they got to perform it with each other. And they wanted, they hated, they craved being near each other. 

It was all so ridiculous and Beth tried to smile at him, to tell him her realisation, to actually speak honestly to him, but she couldn’t as she felt herself being pulled back again, back, back so far and it was okay where she was going, she knew that, but... She could feel how much Rio wanted her to stay with him and she heard him again, muffled, calling out to her. 

She wanted to call back to him, to let him know she wanted to stay too, to stay with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how did you find that chapter ending? 
> 
> I couldn't write for nearly two months but finally got this out. 
> 
> Chapter title is from 'Glory Box' by Portishead. Cos Spa man needs to do just that. The beat is also what Tricky uses in 'Hell Is Around The Corner' which may also be relevant for the end of this chapter!
> 
> No beta so shout if there are terrible mistakes that my eyes cannot see.
> 
> Thank you for reading & keep safe, well & fighting the good fight my lovelies x


	4. I'll leave it in your hands, until you're ready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue Bizznizz - some loose ends are tied up...

Ten days later:

“Annie, I swear if you don’t help me carry my boxes away now I will drive off without you and then you can walk back.”

Ruby had stupidly volunteered her services at Harry’s school-fair and so hadn’t been able to crawl out of giving mini-manicures for Mom’s, Dad’s and Grandma’s for nearly three hours. All profits went to the school fundraiser of course, but Ruby had dragged Annie with her to handle the cash payments as after what had happened to Beth, Annie was not okay with being alone and not okay with her new responsibilities.

In the days following Dean’s decision to murder his wife, the fake cash operation had somewhat stalled but the crime world didn’t care about personal matters and so five days after Beth had been shot, Annie had been told to go to ‘The Paper Porcupine’ and take on the job her sister had been doing. 

Annie was still in too much shock to argue, she swallowed any complaints and did her duty. The owner hadn’t been convinced about Annie, but she adored Beth and so agreed to take Annie on for an interim period. Therefore, the fake cash business continued and ‘Boland Bubbles’ managed to survive for two weeks with their normal staff until an interim manager, who was curiously devoid of tattoos despite being an associate of gang friend, was placed in the store to take responsibilities from Dean and to take over the books Beth had managed. 

Ruby still had nothing to do with ‘Boland Bubbles’ but she made sure to keep in touch with Judith who had taken on the lions share burden of looking after all four of the Boland kids, with Annie volunteering to take the kids from Sunday through to Wednesday morning at Beth’s house. Annie said it's what Beth would want, that her kids still got to be home for three days a week and not just spend all the time with Judith. The Boland kids had complained after three mac n’cheese dinners Annie made, so Ben had forced Kenny help him out to come up with alternatives. Ruby figured it was good for them all to learn to survive and therefore appreciate what they had, or rather what they had had, a little more. The kids were learning to be more resilient.

Dean had been charged and made bail that Judith posted. He had agreed to go for weekly psychotherapy sessions but had been banned from having unsupervised visits or living with his children until the powers that be deemed him stable enough to take care of them.

Ruby had always gotten along with Dean, she had laughed at his goofy jokes, but had wondered how the fuck he’d ever survive without Beth or his mother handing everything to him wrapped up all neat and nice. However, since hearing about his inability to keep his dick to himself... well... Ruby hadn’t been a fan. Ruby had understood why Beth had stayed with him (decades of being downtrodden, him supposedly having cancer, four kids, the fact that the bank owned their house three times over with the three mortgages) but that didn’t mean that Ruby had to like him. And now?

Now Ruby fucking HATED Dean Boland. She wished Rio had killed him all those months back.

She had even gone as far as calling gang friend up two days after the shooting had happened. Mick had been the one to call her with the news, reaching her at the end of her coffee break and he’d told her to sit down before he broke her heart. The two day shock was wearing off when she decided to call gang friend but the rage was growing, it was real and consuming. 

She was surprised that Rio’s number still worked and even more surprised that he answered and that he listened to her quietly as she asked him to work out an exit strategy for Dean. He said that they had to trust that the law would take care of that, and now they had to focus on other things.

Ruby came off the call calmer but still incensed. She didn’t trust the law to take care of Dean because Dean would be presented as a loveable goof who was a great Dad and a successful business man (hah!), who’d just happened to momentarily lose it, just once. Surely he couldn’t be held accountable for his actions when it was a momentary lapse of shooting his unarmed wife with a shotgun at close range. 

Ruby knew full well that Dean would get off with a telling off. Because it always worked out for men like Dean. The system pandered to the Deans of the world, it excused their failings, fed their insipid egos. It never made them pay for any of the shit they did. 

But gang friend was right. They had to wait that out. For now, they had other things to focus on. 

Eight months later:

Rio pulled up in front of the house as dusk was falling and took a breath. It had been a long week, but when wasn’t it? He’d spent the day with Marcus and the kid had been busy. Basketball in the morning cos he wanted to try it out, and then they’d gone to an outdoor picnic kind of birthday party that one of his friends was having. Rio dragged him away from that after 90 minutes having used up all his small talk. Rio had then taken Marcus to the DNR Outdoor Adventure centre as a father and son treat now that it had re-opened. It had been a long day and the kid had been fighting falling asleep during their drive back. Truth be told Rio was shattered too.

“You had a good day pop?”

“Yes, thank you Daddy.”

“Cool, you hungry again?” Rio had let him have some candy and a malted milkshake after their burger lunch, letting him run it off, but that was hours back.

“Yes.”

“Come on then, let’s get inside.” 

Marcus unbuckled himself, but waited for Rio to open the door and then he jumped out racing down the path to the front door, reaching up to press the doorbell, waiting impatiently for it to be answered by the only adult present in the house. She opened the door with the brightest smile and bent down to give him a quick hug letting him go as he raced his words out, to tell her about his day and then ask where exactly was Jane.

“She’s out in the yard with the others, head on through.”

And so he did, leaving Rio to close the front door, ushering Beth in as he did the triple lock and as Beth watched Marcus race though the house to the yard. Beth turned to Rio once Marcus was out of sight and he reached out to her, his hand on the back of her neck pulling her close, kissing her firmly, deeply. She sighed, her body melting against his, her arms slipping around his sides, locking behind his back.

She pulled back slightly to look at him, smiling. “Good day?”

“Yeh, it’s even better now though.” He kissed her again, just as deeply, before taking her hand and pulling her through the house to the yard. 

The kitchen smelled of the katsu curry that Beth had made from scratch and that was keeping warming on the stove. All the kids loved it and Rio was partial too, that and the sticky rice and green beans Beth made to go with it.

Once in the backyard they sat on the new swing bench Beth had installed in front of the kitchen window, Rio pulled her close to him, wrapping an arm over her shoulder as she snuck hers behind his back and they kept close to one another as they watched the game of softball the kids were playing in the last of the days light. 

Beth had been in hospital for over two weeks after being shot, having been driven there by Rio at breakneck speed. She wouldn't have made it otherwise. Officially her heart had stopped beating, but the doctors and nurses worked their magic and revived her. Her wounds had been cleaned, removing as much surface shrapnel as possible, the bullet pellets that could be easily removed without causing issue were pulled out before they did the best job they could of sewing up her torn muscles and flesh. But Beth’s stomach was a mess and she got an infection from one the pellets still inside her, having to undergo surgery again to get the infected pellets out whilst leaving others inside her. They stitched her muscles and skin back together, letting her body do the job of healing, warning her when she was conscious that the pellets may one day work their way out of her. 

Beth didn’t really remember much about the first week, drifting in and out of consciousness with her high temperature and all the pain medication, but she remembered seeing Ruby’s and Annie’s faces and sometimes when she woke at night, she saw Rio’s face. He wasn’t supposed to be there that late, but the nurses let him in to her private room, let him stay holding her hand for a couple of hours.

When she was allowed out, Ruby brought her home, having already cleaned all Beths blood from the kitchen floor and tided up from the police having a disinterested look through the house. Rio co-ordinated with Ruby so that she was there when a connect of his brought his team over to change the house locks, to install locks on all the windows and add an alarm system that covered the house, the garage and the front and back yards. 

Ruby left the team to work as she changed the sheets on Beth’s new bed, the bed Dean had never slept in. And after Harry’s school fair, Ruby and Annie had packed up all of Deans clothes and paraphernalia he’d left in the study and they dropped it in two car loads at Judith’s. Beth’s new lawyers (Rio’s lawyers) had issued an instant restraining order against Dean, and Ruby and Annie wanted to make sure Dean complied with it. 

Beth had spent her first night in the house alone, refusing company, much to Annie and Ruby’s worry. But Beth assured them that she wanted to be alone, that Annie would have to stay with her for the next month when she had the kids as she couldn’t yet move properly, but she just wanted one night to herself, to acclimatise.

Beth had been almost chirpy as she ushered her sisters out before locking up, turning all the lights out and setting the alarm. But there wasn't much to be chirpy about. Dean had sent a message to her via her solicitor that the house had been put on the market, they wouldn’t make any money from it and so she’d have to work something out for herself and the kids. Beth knew it was revenge for the restraining order. Revenge as he’d caught her in their house being intimate with Rio.

It was a dick move on Deans part, Beth felt no regret for doing what she did with Rio, but because she had spent so long reassuring Dean that there was nothing at all between her and Rio that, well... she hadn't thought if Dean might be angry, or that his pride might hurt, and she didn't ever think he would shoot her. It was a bitter pill to swallow after giving him twenty one years.

Beth knew it was going to be hard but accepted that downsizing and renting was her future. Her punishment for letting a man she didn’t respect keep the family finances. She just needed a week or two to figure something new out.

She poured herself a bourbon as she went to her bedroom, checking the new locks were all set in place. Stripping in the ensuite she stared long and hard at her body. She'd shrunk a bit and was paler than ever. Her body was pretty much the same but her stomach... She allowed herself one night only to cry at her reflection. Her stomach wounds were healing but there was a long way to go, all she could see was one giant mottled scar, her skin sewn together, trying to heal.

It felt like it was a lot. 

But she was alive. She downed her bourbon, had a shower, washing her wounds gently before liberally lotioning up with the allowed cream and she crawled into bed, silently crying herself to sleep.

She had avoided Rio for the first week of being home, managing to put off properly speaking to him until he turned up on Wednesday morning just after Annie had taken the kids to school, packed with their clothes for their three day stay away. Rio had brought an overnight bag with him and dumped it in Beth’s bedroom as she stood gawping at him in the hallway. 

Beth had swallowed when he came back, standing in front of her. 

“I’m not ready. I mean, physically.” She squeaked out.

“I’m not here to fuck you Elizabeth, I’m here to be with you.”

Her lip had quivered but she held it together. She hadn’t seen him in two weeks and all she wanted to do consume him, to be with him, to just hear him and be near him but... Her body was still wounded, fresh scar sore and sensitive to touch. She was no longer what she had been.

“Rio, you don’t understand, I'm kind of a mess.”

“You forget I’ve been there already. An’ nothin’ about you is a mess. Whatever scars you now own, on the outside an' the inside, they say you’re a survivor. Your body needs to heal, an' you do too, but pushing me away ain’t gonna make you heal any faster. An’ it ain't gonna make me heal faster either.”

Her eyes went wide and glassy at that and she moved then, slowly, cautiously into him, putting her arms around him, careful to only let her chest lean on him, careful to not sob too loudly on his shoulder. He gently held her, one hand coming up to cradle the back of her head as he murmured things into her hair that she couldn’t make out but it didn't really matter. He was there. 

She started to sob after a few minutes, clinging to him, saying that he hadn’t left her like she’d left him, that he hadn’t left her; that he’d kept her alive, he hadn’t let her bleed out. And he let her cry her relief out, cry her guilt out, just cry as he held her, more relieved than he'd ever let her know that she was there to hold.

From that point on, Rio and Beth stayed together the nights that her kids weren’t there. She refused to let him see her fully naked for the first two weeks and they would heavy pet in the dark, under the covers in bed, using their hands to get each other off. Beth had been waiting on a consultants appointment and when the doctor said she was happy with the way Beth was healing, Beth bit the bullet and called Rio, asking him if he was near his apartment, if he was free.

And so in the late morning sun she stripped all her clothes off and stood naked in front of him letting him see what Dean had done to her body with a shotgun bullet. She swallowed, knowing what she had herself done to Rio’s body the year before, but his scars were smaller, neater, older.

Rio just looked at her, all of her, drank all of her in, his jaw slackened and then he was on her in moments, kissing her, touching her, getting on his knees for her as he pushed her legs apart. Beth had to stop him, pulling him with her to his bed, helping him get his clothes off before she rode him to control how they moved, but neither of them lasted long. They lay in his bed afterward, wrapped up in each other, touching gently, kissing softly, until it got heated again and Rio got Beth on all fours, eliciting moans out of her with each thrust, before pulling out, gently moving her on her back, parting her legs wide to open her hips. He stared into her eyes as he moved over her, penetrating her, his pelvis pressing at just that perfect angle as he kept up a deep insistant tempo, making her come again loudly as they stared in each other eyes, fully reconnecting. After he came inside her, he waited till he slipped out before pulling her against him, holding her tight in his arms as she fell asleep, orgasm exhausted and safe. Safe with him.

But just as their relationship began a new again, the world closed. 

Annie and Ben moved in with Beth and the kids and Rio took Marcus and Rhea in to his place. He claimed it was as he had recently renovated the giant roof terrace and they a vege garden, a grass patch and loungers and table tennis and that it was easy for Rhea to head to work from there as she had extra shifts at the hospital. But the reality was he felt better able to protect them at his place when times were uncertain.

Beth and Rio face timed as much as they could but Beth found it tough. Most of Rio’s different businesses had to go into shut down as had ‘Boland Bubbles’ and the ‘The Paper Porcupine’. They had one shipment of the pharmaceuticals come in and their regular client wouldn’t buy it, so Beth suggested to Rio that they could sell the drugs themselves via a delivery service disguised as a food takeout. Rio loved the business idea. They got a local driver delivery service set up and they got rid of the pills, making themselves a vast profit which they decided to continue.

With all the extra time at home and no alone time with Rio, Beth frustration baked and on a whim, Annie set her up with a tik-tok account where she got her to dress up in her best mom sweaters decorated cupcakes and cookies with elaborate icing. It got popular so Annie set up a venmo and a youtube channel where Beth did some a pay-per-view sessions on more tricky items and then, on an even bolder whim, Annie set up another more private account.

She created an Instagram and patron account where Beth anonymously made hash cookies, hash savoury pastries and hash banana bread and cupcakes with frosting that all tasted delicious. It became a hit and the money came rolling in, paying for the grocery and utility bills for their house of seven, covering Annie’s rent and Beth’s montage for a month.

Rio found it hilarious, even more so when Beth started getting baking utensils and supplies sent to her and she began to run a few legitimate zoom classes, helping people decorate their cakes for their loved ones birthdays. She reminded Rio, who teased her about pushing cannabis, that what she was doing was legal in many states and that every penny helped.

She’d called Rio in a panic one morning after finding out her house had been sold by Dean and she now had no where to live. Her kids would have to move in with their grandmother and she would be sleeping on Annie’s couch until she could find some place to rent near their schools or, in all honesty, somewhere she could afford to rent that had decent schools nearby.

Rio had listened but calmly told her to check her emails. She found one from Gretchen.

Her house had been bought by a foundation and the foundation was offering to lease it to Beth at a reasonable monthly rent for the next 12 months, at which point the foundation would be open to accepting an offer on the property from Beth. Either way, after 12 months, the rent would be increased.

Beth was speechless. She told Rio he couldn't do that, that she couldn’t owe him and he corrected her, she wasn't owing him, she was owing a foundation that aided those in need. He also told her his donation to the said foundation he’d created with only one chosen recipient in mind (her), was tax deductible. Which made Beth roll her eyes at him but later that night, in her shower so Annie couldn’t hear, as she was now sharing Beth’s bed having mostly given up on sleeping on the couch, Beth cried fat tears into the stream of hot water with the relief of keeping her home for one more year. 

It wasn’t a full answer. Her home still wasn’t her own, but she had a year in which to earn some real money, make a legitimate paper trail and start saving to pay Rio’s phoney foundation off or to just get ahead so she could move somewhere new and start afresh.

But for now, staying there, decluttering a little, making the open spaces a little simpler, removing traces of Dean and his family, letting her kids feel secure after weeks of upheaval and knowing that their dad had tried to kill their mom, well... Staying there in a newly secure house was the comforting option for the kids right now.

So Beth accepted the offer and celebrated by sending Annie out to give the delivery guys their supplies for the takeaway deliveries and putting all the kids to bed on time after making them run around the garden whilst she downing three bourbons, before having video sex with Rio. 

When the lock down eased in June, Beth told Annie she was going shopping and to check over the books in the office and met Rio at ‘Boland Bubbles’. Within a minute he’d backed her up against Dean’s old office wall, their mouths locked together as she undid his jeans and he ripped her panties down. It felt just like old times as he lifted her up against the wall, his pants slipping to his knees, her dress hiked up around her hips, they went at each other, fast and furious and desperate with Beth clinging onto Rio as she came. They stayed, holding onto one another, finding each others lips and kissing until Rio lifted her up a little and slipped out of her.

They both sighed at the separation, pulling apart a little.

“Shit Mama.” Was all he said looking at her as he licked his lips and she surged forward to kiss him again. 

Two days later Beth accepted the delivery of a mirror for her bedroom, a beautiful stand alone mirror with a base in a style that wasn’t quite what Beth would choose, but did actually appreciate. She carried it to her bedroom, moving it to a new empty corner and she took a picture of it.

“Yo!” Annie whistled, having followed Beth into her room. “When did you get all cool with your furniture and when did you even manage to buy it?”

“I didn’t. Besides, it's not really for me.” Beth shrugged her reply before sending Rio a thank you text.

With the lockdown having eased, Annie and Ben moved back into their apartment a day after the mirror delivery, and Beth agreed to allow her kids to stay with Judith once or twice a week, so they could spend some supervised time with their dad. Rhea and Marcus moved back into her house, with Marcus splitting his time between his parents. Rio and Beth’s different business interests had mostly opened up but in a new socially distant way and without either of them really talking about it, they quietly began to integrate their lives. 

They didn’t do dates as such, they didn’t spend a great deal of time cozying up together outside in public spaces, they weren’t overly affectionate in front of others, or at the fake cash or pharmacy handovers, but they didn’t hide that they were spending time together and staying at each others places from those closest to them. And their five kids loved hanging out together after lockdown. 

As Beth had taken a bullet to stop Dean from hurting Rio, they both quietly acknowledged that things had changed between them, it made their complicated feelings a little clearer, a little more balanced. And the pandemic, the enforced separation, just solidified their change in behaviour to one another. 

They quietly worked out a routine that worked for them, they integrated their kids together at a gentle pace, until before long, it was normal for them all to spend a few nights a week together. It was normal for Beth to stay at Rio’s on the nights she didn't have her kids and he had Marcus. It was normal to do Friday night takeout with their large blended family.

And so here they were, on Saturday eve, ushering their family in when it got too dark in the back yard, making the kids set the table and choose a board game for after their meal. Beth and Rio working around each other, sharing looks and smiles. Staying up for half an hour after the kids went to bed, to make sure things were quiet before they went to Beth’s bedroom, locking the door.

Losing a sense of time as they got lost in each other over and over again.

As they lay in bed, naked and spent, spooning, with Beth’s back pressed against Rio’s chest, their arms wrapped in each other, still flushed from sex though the Fall night air was cool, Beth quietly asked Rio.

“If you could change anything about us, about our past, would you?”

Beth felt Rio smirk. “Nah, not now. I resurrected from the dead and so did you. We’re our own fuckin’ equals. ‘Sides, some things are just meant to happen the way they do. Collisions only knock you off course cos you were on the wrong one.”

Beth turned her head to look at Rio, locking eyes with him, waiting a few moments before kissing him gently. “Thank you for knocking me off course.”

He nodded back at her. “Ditto, Elizabeth.”

Beth smiled at him warmly and he sighed contentedly, kissing her forehead before he closed his eyes. She turned her head again, pushing back into him, sighing contentedly herself as he pressed tightly against her. She stayed smiling, thinking of his words. She finally felt safe with him. She also felt seen, felt heard, felt respected, was ridiculously immensely sexually satisfied; and underneath all that, she knew she was finally with her equal. And equality with him felt like nothing else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for coming on this little 'what Bea would have preferred from S3' journey. 
> 
> Mostly, I like writing about the dynamic between Beth & Rio though I freaking like all our girls. I feel even more than ever now that Dean seriously sucks, I appreciate the show wants to provide us with controversial characters to unilaterally dislike but please! Beth was divorcing Dean in S1 & by S3 she's doing all she can to please him? Bleugrh! Just make him an antagonist already & stop belittling Beth & US, the audience, with that man! & yes, I used Ruby here to explain why Beth kept him in her bed as tbh... a lot of the Beth & Dean storyline still makes zero sense to me!  
> Anyway, I've learnt that I can't write fast during a pandemic & that I want to things to be better than they were before... hence I dislike Dean's character even more now.  
> I also wrote this epilogue so it was slightly less angsty!
> 
> The title for this chapter is taken from the track 'Back to Life' by Soul II Soul. If you don't know it, have a listen. 
> 
> Stay well lovelies, take of yourselves and your loves,
> 
> With non-body contact squeezes, Bea x

**Author's Note:**

> Title from 'Collide' by Tiana Major9 & EARTHGANG from 'Queen & Slim' as I feel Brio vibes when I listen to this track. Plus, do watch 'Queen & Slim'. It had me feeling all the feels.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this slice of lock-down distraction. Not beta'd & I can never see my editing errors so shout out if there's some hideous ones.
> 
> The hotel dress (I'm a luddite so can't put the actual Pinterest picture up): 
> 
> https://i.pinimg.com/236x/37/98/e7/3798e79197d4604d53ff7b651c1a0408--monica-belluci-monica-bellucci-makeup.jpg


End file.
